


The Heirs of the Four Kingdoms

by EllePellano



Series: The Four Kingdoms [2]
Category: Shaman King (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Kingdom, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Drama & Romance, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Friendship/Love, Murder Mystery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-25
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:00:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 38,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24945004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllePellano/pseuds/EllePellano
Summary: In order to hide her identity from enemies, Princess Anna becomes the personal maid and tutor of the "servant boy", Yoh Asakura who turned out to be the crown prince of Kasai. Meanwhile, Prince Ren copes with his grief while catching up with his academics. They make new friends, acquaintances, enemies, and love interests while on their quest to find each other.
Relationships: Asakura Hao/Kyouyama Anna, Asakura Yoh & Kyouyama Anna, Asakura Yoh & Tamamura Tamao, Damuko & Usui Horokeu, Kyouyama Anna & Tao Ren, Tao Ren/Usui Pirika, Usui Pirika & Diethel Lyserg
Series: The Four Kingdoms [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1805443
Kudos: 2





	1. Volume 1 Recap: The Four Kingdoms

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman King  
> A/N: Opacho and Goldva are both male here.

Upon the request of his father, Prince Ren Tao of Kaminari took a leave of absence from the Royal Patch Academy and went back to his kingdom. A homecoming ball was organized in the Kaminari palace on the night of his return. There he met his childhood best friend, Princess Anna Kyouyama of Kouku again. The party turned out to be a surprise engagement ball for the two of them. It was organized by their fathers behind their backs after King Yuan Tao had requested for an arranged marriage between their children as proof of King Hideki Kyouyama's loyalty to him. Feeling betrayed by her father's actions, Anna had a hard time accepting his decision to betroth her with Ren, whom she had not seen or heard from for the past three years. As she contemplated alone in the garden, she came across a slacking servant boy of the Tao household. The boy was none other than Yoh Asakura, the crown prince of Kasai. Along side Kouri, Kasai was considered an enemy kingdom of Kouku and Kaminari. The enemy prince was there on an undercover mission with three of his friends: the partner spies, Manta and Ryuu, and the swordsman, Amidamaru. After reporting his findings about the gathering at the Kaminari palace, Yoh left the group as they slept to avoid going back to Kasai right away.

A few days after the engagement ball, Ren started his regular visits to Anna in Kouku in order to woo her until he gets back to the academy. He had only missed one day due to inclement weather. That stormy night, the Kouku royal family was attacked by two assassins as the whole palace slept. Anna was able to escape by jumping into the Great Spirit's River. The next day, the entire Kouku palace woke up to find the royal couple murdered in their chamber. Ren immediately went to Kouku to check on what had happened there after his parents broke the news to him. He found out that the princess was missing and the soldiers were only able to retrieve the necklace he gave her on the night of their engagement.

Meanwhile, Anna was found almost lifeless near the riverbank by Yoh, who was on his way back to Kasai. The Asakura prince took her to his former mentor, Faust who was living in exile in the woods near the Kasai border. Having extensive knowledge with medicine, Faust was able to nurse the mysterious girl back to health with the help of his wife, Eliza. Unsure of the girl's identity, the medicine man decided to pose as Yoh's father to protect the prince.

When she finally woke up, Anna became wary of her surroundings and the odd family who took her in but eventually recognized Yoh. Knowing him as just a servant in the Tao household, Anna ordered the undercover prince to take her to "his" king. A confused Yoh decided to accompany her to the Kasai palace to see his father, King Mikihisa. They hitched a ride with Faust who was on his way to sell some medicines to a trader friend in the town of Chikyuu. Upon reaching the town, Anna and Yoh enjoyed the life of a commoner as they freely roam around the place. Anna was especially awed by the outdoors, something she didn't have the chance to do because she wasn't allowed to leave the palace grounds except when she was going to Kaminari. The day ended with Yoh giving Anna a necklace that was similar to the one that Ren presented to her during the engagement ball. Their conversation about the necklace and the Kaminari prince had made Yoh realize his mistake. He completely misunderstood the girl when she instructed him to take her to "his" king.

The next day, Yoh made several attempts to discourage Anna from continuing their journey to meet the king (of Kasai, supposedly Kaminari) but the girl seemed oblivious to where she truly was. Faust dropped them off in the town of Tochi where a culinary competition was being held. It was there where they came across Amidamaru who offered his help in delivering Anna to the king (of Kasai) much to the dismay of Yoh. Upon arriving at the central town of Koichi, Anna began to speculate that she was not in Kaminari at all. She was introduced by Amidamaru to the Kasai king who was hiding his face under a bird mask. After realizing her mistake, Anna applied as a palace maid to hide her identity from the enemies.

The princess turned servant struggled with her new job while she tried to look for Yoh who disappeared yesterday after being scolded by the king. She was forced to serve the Kasai royal family during dinner and it was there that she found out that Yoh was the Kasai heir and being a servant boy was just an act. She felt betrayed the second time but Yoh assured her that everything was just a misunderstanding and that he would help her go back home. To make things easier for her, the prince requested his father to promote Anna as his personal maid and tutor.

Anna and Yoh began their tutoring session with a lesson on the history of the four kingdoms. The first war was instigated by King Asaha Douji of Kasai when he tried to conquer all four kingdoms but was later stopped by Yohken Asakura, a relative of the king. The second war was started by Kouku who was aided by Kaminari to avenge the deaths of some royal family members who were killed in the first war. Yoh recalled a story from Faust about the real cause of the second war but did not tell Anna about it because she might find it ridiculous.

The blond girl also accompanied the prince to his physical training with the warrior, Amidamaru. Yoh's lack of skills showed and the swordsman had to remind the prince that wearing the Asakura heirloom, a star-shaped gold pin, meant that he was the next heir of Kasai and that he should live up to it. Anna punished Yoh for his lameness during his practice fight with Amidamaru by making him jog around the training grounds fifty times.

Meanwhile, a funeral was held for the Kouku royal family even though the search party was unable to find the princess' body. General Ryuuken Tori, King Hideki's right hand man was proclaimed as the new king of Kouku afterwards and a grieving Prince Ren reluctantly left Kaminari for the Royal Patch Academy.


	2. The Heir's Fiancee

Prince Yoh stretched his arms upwards and took a deep breath. "Ahhh, this feels nice!" The warm rays of the sun had a reinvigorating effect on him. He and his personal maid, Anna were currently wandering around the royal garden, his most favorite spot in the palace. The statues of Kasai's former rulers seemed to wave and smile at him when he passed by. Despite having spent his entire childhood in the palace, the artistic rockeries, and well-maintained trees and flower beds of the royal garden had never failed to mesmerize him. He made a mental note to find the gardener later in order to praise him for a job well done.

Anna scowled from behind the prince while he stooped down on a rose bush and inhaled the sweet fragrance of the red and pink flowers. She did not like the idea of strolling around the royal garden at this time of the day when she was given the task of educating the lazy heir of Kasai. However, she was so bored of being stuck inside the palace and listening to the prince recite all the towns of his kingdom and their economic significance that she conceded to his request of going outside to get some fresh air.

_He's wearing that goofy expression again. What's with a bunch of roses anyway?_

The blond girl approached the prince's objects of interest to find out why he was so captivated by them. She ogled at the relatively large and vibrant dewdrop-covered flowers in full bloom.

_The roses here are much prettier than those in Kouku, even prettier than the ones given by Ren._

She slowly reached out to touch a red one but a thorn had caught her finger.

"Ouch!" Anna winced at the sight of blood.

Yoh retrieved a white handkerchief from his pants' pocket and firmly wrapped her pricked finger with it. "You should take extra care Anna."

The blond girl blushed at the gentleness of the prince's touch.

"That won't hurt much," he smiled at her.

"Of course! It's just a small thorn." Anna immediately snatched her hand away from his hold before he could notice the rosy tint on her cheeks. She walked past him and settled herself on a wooden bench near a small tree that was skillfully cut into a star. "You really love the outdoors, don't you?"

The prince nodded with an enthusiasm of a five-year old after being asked if he wanted some candy. He then followed Anna's steps and sat on the other end of the bench. The high stone wall surrounding the palace was visible from that spot. Prince Yoh let out an audible sigh which drew the attention of his personal maid.

"Do you still have the same feelings towards being a royalty, Anna?"

The blond girl stared at him for a few seconds then asked, "What are you talking about?"

"Well, when I first saw you, you were complaining about the heavy burden of being a royalty because your future has already been decided for you." The prince recalled their first encounter at the Kaminari royal garden during Anna's engagement ball

"Well I take back those words. Being a princess is way better than being a personal maid to a laid-back prince."

Prince Yoh was filled with guilt once more as he was reminded that she was stuck at the Kasai palace because of him.

"Why are you asking me these anyway?" the blond girl looked annoyed.

"It's because…" Yoh looked up at the clear blue sky, "I often ask myself if I really wanted to be king…"

* * *

**At the Kasai palace lobby...**

The palace maid, Kanna straightened the creases of her uniform with her hands. There were drips of soap suds on her skirt as she had been doing the laundry when she was summoned by the head servant. Apparently, all the palace maids were suddenly pulled out from their chores to greet a very important guest that had unexpectedly arrived that morning. She took a quick glimpse at her two close friends standing in line, each wearing a vacant look. She guessed nobody knew who this high-profile visitor was.

It must have been some foreign royalty that warranted this much attention from the Asakura household since all palace servants were asked to welcome him. All of them except that new girl called Anna who was promoted as the prince's personal maid in just a day. She gritted her teeth at the special favor granted to the new hire who was anything but an amateur to the job.

_Just because she's close to the prince…_

She hated how the blond girl responded with deaf ears and unusual calmness even if she was berated by the head servant and the cook for her lousy service. Kanna hated her snobbish attitude. Anna would constantly ignore the other palace maids when they inquired about her family, her hometown and her previous employment. It was like she was hiding something. Kanna swore she would reveal the blond girl's darkest secret to kick her out of the palace for good. In the mean time, she would have to wait patiently for the distinguished guest to alight the richly decorated carriage that had arrived just now.

"Oh my dear princess, it has been a long time," Queen Keiko quickly embraced the girl who came out of the carriage in a frilly pink dress. "Look at you. You've become more beautiful since the last time I saw you."

"Thank you, Your Grace. I came here as soon as I received the telegram from Uncle Mikihisa. Where is he by the way?"

"Oh he has some matters to discuss with his men in the throne room. He'll be seeing you during dinner."

"Uncle is always busy, isn't he? But I wonder where Yoh is? How come he did not welcome me back?" The girl pouted and searched for the prince's face among the crowd with her eyes.

"My son doesn't know you're coming today. You truly surprised us all. We were not expecting you until next week so we did not tell him yet."

"I'm sorry… I got all excited when I found out that he has returned to Kasai. It's been quite a while since we last saw each other…" The girl let out a blush which matched the color of her hair.

"Well, you're going to stay with us now so you can catch up with him anytime. I'm sure he would be delighted to see you," the queen assured her. "Kanna, Marion, and Matilda…" the Asakura queen beckoned the three palace maids to step forward. "Kindly assist the princess just like the good old times."

Kanna could not hide her smile as she picked up two pink suitcases.

 _So she has finally returned. This is going to be_ interesting...

* * *

**At the Kasai palace throne room...**

"Are you sure about that?" King Mikihisa looked gravely at the two men bowing down before him. The spies he sent just got back from the other side of the Great Spirit's River to deliver an important report.

"We're positive, Your Highness," confirmed Ryuu, the taller of the two with a distinct goatee.

"We were at the central town when the funeral bell rung. We heard from the townsfolk themselves that the royal family died," added his partner, Manta.

"I see… Thank you for your service. I trust that you won't let this information leak. You may go and take a couple of days off," the king dismissed them.

"There's one more thing, Your Majesty…" Manta rose up and took a small package from his pocket. "This is from him." The little guy stretched his little arm upward so that the king could reach for the piece of brown parcel.

King Mikihisa gently tore off the wrapper and found a folded paper and a little glass bottle containing green cream. The bottle had the label "For burn scars" pasted on it.

The Asakura monarch let out a slight smile, "Please extend my gratitude if ever you see him again."

"We will, Your Highness," answered Ryuu. "Oh by the way, I saw your niece's carriage on our way to the palace. Is the princess here?"

"Ah yes, she had arrived about a minute ago. I made a promise to inform her once my son got back from his escapades but I did not expect her to come here so soon."

* * *

**At the Kasai palace garden...**

"That's stupid! Any ordinary person would give up anything to be in your place." Anna snapped at her companion.

"I know…" the prince sighed as he rested his back on the bench, "…but don't you get tired of knowing that everything has been determined for you - the role that you'll play, your responsibilities, your future spouse, your allies, and your enemies. Don't you secretly wish you were as normal as everyone else? A king has great power and control over his kingdom but he doesn't have as much freedom as a commoner."

"So what kind of life do you want then?"

"I want a life that is as unpredictable and as free as the wind." Yoh grinned at her.

"Only a lazy prince who's afraid of taking responsibility will say those words," snorted the blond girl.

"Sorry…" Yoh suddenly felt dejected. "I thought we shared the same sentiments when I heard you talking to your fiance."

"That's different! I'm quite fine with carrying the burden of managing the kingdom. What I can't stand though is being thrown into a whirlwind engagement and getting married because someone else said so."

"But even though it was arranged, you do like that Prince Ren of yours, right?"

The blond girl paused for a while - a slight blush forming on her cheeks. "Well, he has been my friend ever since I was young. Ren has all the qualities that a girl would want in a man. How could I not like him?"

"I see…" The prince grew silent for a minute.

"What about you? Don't you have a fiancée? The practice of arranged marriage is very common among royal bloods."

"Errr… I do have one but I don't get to see her that often. We were betrothed when we were ten years old. She was a distant relative of my father's."

"Does your fiancée like pink a lot?" Anna suddenly asked out-of-the-blue.

"How did you know?" the prince gave her a quizzical look. The blond girl responded by pointing to his left.

Yoh squinted his eyes at a fast-approaching body of pink lace and ribbons to check if he was not hallucinating, "Is that…?"

The Kasai heir jumped up from his seat when the pink-haired girl wrapped him tightly in her arms.

"I've been searching the whole palace for you. I miss you, Yoh!" the prince's fiancée squealed with delight.

"I can't… breathe… Tamao…"


	3. The Queen Mother

"I can't… breathe... Tamao…"

"Oh, I'm sorry Yoh!" The pink-haired girl released her fiancé from her tight embrace. "I couldn't stop myself. I just miss you so badly!"

"It's been quite a while… I wasn't expecting you to come," the prince forced out a smile.

"I'd like to surprise you!"

"Well I am surprised alright," Yoh muttered under his breath. He did not need another controlling person in his life right now.

_This is troublesome… I had to fulfill my fiancé duties to Tamao while keeping my promise to Anna._

The Kasai heir turned his head towards the blond girl's direction. His personal maid had her arms folded across her chest and wore her usual scowl as she eyed them. She seemed annoyed by the sudden appearance of his fiancée. He could have told her about Tamao had he known that she would be arriving. He had this feeling that the two girls would clash because of their very strong personalities.

Tamao noticed the prince's inattentiveness and looked at the source of his new found interest. Her eyes fell on a pretty blond girl with an air of arrogance.

_So this must be the new maid that Kanna was talking about…_

* * *

_Flashback_ _…_

" _I can't seem to find Yoh in his room," Tamao vented out her frustration and disappointment to her closest assistants. The three maids, Kanna, Marion and Matilda were busy unpacking her things and keeping them in their respective places._ _They_ _always attended to her needs when she_ _was there. She had taken a liking to them because they kept her up-to-date about the latest gossip in the palace._

" _Have you tried looking in the royal garden, princess?" suggested Matilda, the cheeriest of the three. "His Highness likes to go there when he's not doing his training. He can't possibly be outside the palace vicinity for the king had forbidden him to leave without his permission."_

" _Ah yes! I haven't checked there." Tamao sprang from the bed excitedly._

" _The prince is probably with the new servant girl," presumed Kanna, the eldest of her chamber maids. "She is his favorite among us all. His Highness especially requested her to be his personal maid. I think she's trying to get the prince to fancy her," she watched the girl's reaction from the corner of her eye._

_Tamao's nostrils slightly flared up. Nobody could steal Yoh from her. She would make that wretched girl's life miserable._

_"I'll see for myself…"_

* * *

"I need to do some work, Your Highness. Please excuse me," Anna started to walk away from the pair and headed towards the palace.

"But Anna… we're not done with my tutoring session yet…" Yoh called after her.

"We'll double the hours tomorrow. You're hands are quite full today," the blond girl glowered at him then left the couple by themselves.

Anna sighed when she was finally out of their hearing range. "Pull yourself together, Anna Kyouyama... Why would you become so irritated when you saw her hugging him? More importantly, why is that pink fluff throwing dagger looks at you?" She took a quick glance at the prince behind her. He was avoiding his fiancée's gaze as if he had done something horrible or shameful. Well, he did bring an enemy inside the palace. Anna was certain the pink fluff would faint when she finds out what her stupid lover had done.

_You better not be too distracted, Yoh. Remember your promise._

"Your personal maid, I presume?" Tamao put her hands on her hips when the blond girl was out of earshot.

"Er… yes…"

"I honestly did not expect you to request for one, Yoh. It's the sort of thing your twin brother would do but not you."

The prince scratched his head and grinned nervously. Why was it so unusual for him to ask for a personal assistant? He was a prince after all. If his twin brother had been in his position, nobody would have questioned him.

"Well, I had reasons…"

* * *

**By the Kasai** **palace entrance leading to the royal garden...**

"Oh, you poor girl…"

Anna found her co-worker, Kanna waiting near the entrance of the palace's left wing. They regularly dismissed each other's existence that's why Anna was a bit surprised that the girl was talking to her now. The blonde was not in the mood for a conversation so she ignored the earlier remark and walked past the smirking girl.

"Why so sullen?"

The nosy maid must have noticed her reaction when she went through the doorway. Anna pretended she did not hear her.

"Oh I know! You've been busy trying to win the prince's affection but then his beloved fiancée showed up. Too bad the Asakuras don't allow royal concubines anymore."

Anna paused.

_What the hell is this girl implying?_

She abruptly turned around to face her accuser and without losing her cool, she said to her, "Well, I've been busy thinking of things that a dull person such as you cannot comprehend. Now if you would excuse me, I have other more important work to do than stand around and mock other people." Then she turned her back on the blue-haired maid and continued on her way.

Kanna angrily grabbed Anna's arm and swung her around until they were facing each other. With the strength of a man, she seized her by the shoulders in an act of threatening to raise her up and throw her like a ragdoll. Kanna was much taller than her but Anna wasn't the least intimidated. She fought her tormentor back by grabbing two fistfuls of her long blue hair.

"I'll tear these strands from your scalp if you don't let go of me NOW," the blond girl did not utter an empty threat. She would definitely make this woman pay. Nobody can bully a _Kyouyama_ even if she was not in her own territory.

"I know your motive. You are the type of person who would seduce a nobleman to become rich!"

"Huh, aren't you describing yourself?"

"Why you little bi-"

"What is going on here?" an old stern voice prompted the two maids to release each other.

The former queen, Kino Asakura approached the quarreling servants. "That's a big accusation you got there, Kanna." She apparently heard their heated argument.

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty. But what I'm saying is true!" Kanna pointed at the blond girl. "We have an opportunistic personnel in our midst! She would only cause trouble here. You should fire her while it's not too late!"

"Enough!" The old queen thumped her cane loudly on the floor. "I don't tolerate fighting in my house. Someone will really lose her job if you don't get back to your respective chores!"

Kanna bowed down and left their presence after shooting the blonde an angry look. Anna was rooted on the spot not knowing where to go since her task was to tutor the prince. She didn't want to go back to the royal garden and deal with his fiancée. She had enough drama today already. She was spared from making a decision and a lie when Queen Kino addressed her.

"You are Anna, my grandson's personal maid, right?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

"What Kanna is saying earlier, is it true?"

"If I say 'yes', you would hate me. If I say 'no,' you would still hate me for you'd think I'm a liar. So I better not answer your question, Your Majesty. I don't need to explain myself."

The old queen smiled. "You are a feisty girl, Anna. You remind me so much of myself when I was younger. Would you care to accompany me during my tea break? My husband is currently in bed suffering from arthritis."

The blond girl couldn't do anything but nod. She did not expect the old queen's friendly gesture.

* * *

**In the Kasai palace garden...**

"And what could be your reasons, Yoh Asakura?" Tamao demanded a good explanation from her fiancé. She would strangle him if she would find out that he just wanted a pretty girl by his side. She knew that Yoh never thought of her as his lover even though they were betrothed but at least he should have some decency to recognize her as his future wife. She had considered him her one true love throughout her childhood even if Uncle Mikihisa had originally planned to arrange her with his twin. She was grateful to the Great Spirit for changing her fate when the other Kasai prince was banished from the kingdom and Yoh became the new heir. If the prince had a reason for getting a personal maid then it better not be just to spite her.

"It's because… you know… I'm lazy so I need someone to push me…" the prince scratched his nose. That was not a lie though. He really needed someone to motivate him.

"Ok… So that's only one reason. What are the others?"

"Did I say REASONS? I only meant REASON," Yoh laughed nervously.

"Hey, look what we found here," remarked a familiar voice which saved the prince from his fiancée's further inquisition.

"Manta! Ryuu!" Yoh exclaimed. A big smile formed on his face. He missed seeing these two.

"Your Highness, why did you suddenly leave us in the forest? We were so worried sick!" the tall guy berated the prince.

"You're starting to sound like Amidamaru…"

Manta chuckled, "Don't mind him, Your Highness. He's like that because the king was in a bad mood when we returned to Kasai without you."

"Oh, I'm sorry for causing trouble," the prince bowed down.

"That's not necessary Your Highness!"

"We were just kidding!"

The two men waved their hands frantically so that the Kasai heir would not feel so guilty.

"I did not see you guys when I came home. Did father send you to another mission?" inquired the prince.

"Yes, he did. It's a very important one." The tall guy's face turned serious. "It's about the Kouku-,"

"Ryuu!" Manta shot him a warning look. "I'm sorry Your Highness but this is classified information…" He felt ashamed for hiding something from the prince but they had made a promise to the king earlier not to tell anyone about their recent escapade across the Great Spirit's River.

Thankfully, the awkwardness ended when the neglected pink-haired girl cleared her throat.

"Oh, hello my dear Princess Tamao!" Ryuu clasped his hands together and gazed dreamily at the prince's fiancée.

The girl ignored him and grabbed Yoh's arm. "If you are done talking to him, we are leaving!" She walked towards the palace entrance dragging the prince along with her.

"Are you staying for awhile in Kasai? Let's catch up later guys!" Yoh called out to the two men.

"Not too long, Your Highness. Maybe next time!" answered Ryuu.

"See you when we see you, Prince Yoh!" Manta waved at him.

The two chuckled when the couple was out of their sight.

"Manta, the prince is really preoccupied now, isn't he?"

"Well, it's inevitable when Princess Tamao is around. She always wants his full attention. Sometimes I pity the prince…"

"Why? She is a pretty girl." Ryuu wore a dreamy expression as if the princess was still there.

"Stop drooling on my hair!" Manta scrambled away from his partner and started walking towards the direction of the main gate. His friend caught up with him in one big stride.

"I miss spending time with the prince though…" Ryuu sighed. "It's fun when the four of us were on a mission." He admitted that doing spy work as a group even with the uptight Amidamaru was enjoyable. He especially missed the drunk boisterous version of the swordsman. He hadn't seen that bloke around when they reported to the king. The warrior must have been taking solo missions since they came back to Kasai. Perhaps the king had sent him out for more dangerous tasks.

"Me too…" Manta had the same sentiments.

"So... are you going back to your hometown now?"

"Yes, I want to visit my younger sister. I'm also required to help out in the family business while I'm free from work."

"I don't understand you, Manta. You're relatively well off but you still work in the palace."

"Well, my father is still strong and I'm a free spirit, just like you, Ryuu, just like the prince."

The tall guy smiled. "I guess that what made us pals in the first place."

"How about you? Are you going somewhere?"

"I'm going to see my friends at the pub. I have some score to settle with that ugly oaf, Tokageroh." Ryuu raised his fist.

"And by score to settle you meant mugs of ale." The little guy shook his head. "You're going to drink again until you're totally knocked out."

"I assure you, I won't. I'll be the last sober man standing in our drinking contest for I am Ryunosuke Umemiya, the most reliable spy in Kasai!" Ryuu laughed heartily.

"I don't think being a spy and a drunkard work well together," Manta muttered to himself.

* * *

**At the former queen's tea room...**

Anna slowly filled the old queen's cup with newly-prepared tea. They were at the balcony of one of the palace's elegant rooms. It was a spacious room even bigger than the prince's chamber. Anna understood why a small old lady would feel lonely staying there.

"Do sit down…"

The blond girl reluctantly reached for a chair and settled herself across the old queen.

"Tea is best enjoyed with other people, don't you think?"

"If I may not be so rude to ask," Anna started, "why aren't there any servants attending to your needs, Your Majesty?"

"Oh, I sent them off to do other tasks."

"The topic of our conversation is of great importance then."

"You are indeed a smart girl as expected from a former governess." Queen Kino couldn't hide her admiration for her.

Anna felt uneasy for even the old queen knew about her made-up personal background. She hated lying to this kind elderly woman, the only person in the palace who befriended her aside from the prince.

"You and my grandson seemed to be very close."

The blond girl slightly blushed at this remark.

"Yoh has a tendency to get comfortable with his tutors. Perhaps it's the time spent together that creates his special bond with them."

Queen Kino took another sip of her tea. "After all, he does not have many acquaintances and the ones that he considers friends are always away."

_Sometimes it's really lonely to be royalty._ Anna thought.

"Being the next heir of Kasai must have put a lot of weight on his shoulders since he was a young boy. Although my grandson does not open up to us, we know that he doesn't want to take the responsibility."

Anna remembered her earlier conversation with the prince. It's true. There's no need to deny it.

"With that being said, I have a big favor to ask from you… " continued the old queen, "Perhaps... you can talk some sense to Yoh to accept what has been laid out for him. I do think he would listen to you. Yes, he is lazy and immature but it's unlikely for him to leave his throne and run off. I just don't want him to be half-hearted and unprepared when he takes the position in the near future. Can I count on you, Anna?"

The blond girl nodded. "I'll do my best, Your Majesty."


	4. The Tao Princess

Anna found herself pouring another cup of tea for the elderly queen, Kino Asakura who had taken a liking to her. For the past 3 days she had been invited over by the former queen of Kasai to join her during her lonely tea time. Old King Yohmei had still not yet recovered from his arthritis and was spending the whole day resting in the royal chamber and being cared for by at least five young pretty palace maids. The aged queen seemed to be annoyed at the current setup but this was something she had to bear for the sake of her husband's fast recovery.

"I would make him pay when he's already well," she told the blond girl. "I'm sorry for asking so much of your time. I know your duty is to my grandson."

"It's fine, Your Highness," Anna took the usual seat across the queen. She appreciated the invitation to a hot cup of tea for she was feeling a little cold since morning. "Our tutoring session is over and I have already cleaned his room. Besides my company is unwanted since his fiancée is keeping him busy all the time."

The old queen chuckled, "Do I sense a hint of jealousy in your voice?"

The blond girl blushed. "Oh no, Your Majesty. It's just that they were always inseparable to the point that I always carry out our lessons with both of them in the room. Princess Tamao is whispering the answers to the prince every now and then." Anna recalled how she angrily slammed the book down the table and walked out of the prince's room earlier. Their tutoring session ended abruptly because of this. She thought she heard Prince Yoh call out to her as she closed the door of his room but she was not in the mood to listen to his apology.

"Hmmm… Tamao is quite a nuisance then?"

"I'd rather prefer that the prince be fully concentrated with his studies."

"I'm sorry if Tamao's causing you trouble…" the old queen sighed. "She must have taken my words seriously."

Anna gave her a questioning look.

The old royal continued, "Tamao's not like that before. She was a timid little girl whom I thought was very gullible. I did not approve of the family's decision to betroth her to the next heir of the kingdom but there were no other decent ones to choose from. I told her once that if she wanted to become queen, she must live up to our expectations. Whenever I see her around the palace, I always advise her to toughen up and carry herself with confidence. She must have interpreted it a little differently."

 _No wonder she is like that. She must have been afraid to lose her fiancé that's why she is so clingy to him,_ thought Anna.

"No matter how sorry I am for turning her into what she is now, it's already too late. I have to accept what she had become. After all, she is part of the family and she loves my grandson…"

Anna could feel the old queen's sincerity.

_She is not bad as I thought she was._

"Perhaps that is the magic of love. You'd be willing to change or give up a part of yourself for someone you think is worth everything." Queen Kino smiled. "I gave up being a headmistress of a school in our town just to marry Yohmei. Have you ever done something outrageous for someone, Anna?"

The blond girl thought for awhile.

_The only crazy thing I did is to become a palace servant to the prince of an enemy kingdom. But I did it to save myself…_

"Don't tell me you have never fallen in love with someone yet?" teased the elderly woman when Anna gave no response.

"I did…" The blond girl said reluctantly, "when I was younger…"

"Is he a childhood friend of yours?"

"Yes…" Anna finally confessed to someone that she was secretly in love with her best friend.

"So what happened? Why didn't it work out?" Old Queen Kino asked with keen interest.

"Well, he left me for three years and he never wrote to me. I thought he had totally forgotten about me. I guess all my affections towards him were replaced with anger." This was also the first time that she had admitted to someone how she was deeply hurt when he had left her.

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Perhaps he had his reasons. Why not give him a chance?"

"Maybe I should…" Anna looked down at her tea cup which was almost empty.

_But by the time I get out of this place maybe he has completely forgotten about me. There's no reason he would think that I'm still alive._

She poured herself another hot cup for she was feeling cold again.

* * *

**At the Tao Princess' mansion...**

"It's so sweet of you to visit me, little Ren!" a woman with green tresses beamed at the Kaminari royal from across a long wooden table.

"Stop calling me little. I'm already seventeen years old," the Tao prince glared at his older sister, Jun. His journey at sea had ended earlier than expected so he decided to drop by his older sister's mansion which was in the same town as the port where the ship had docked.

"Time does fly so fast, doesn't it? You're all grown up and then you'll soon be married off just like me."

Prince Ren noted a tinge of bitterness in his sister's voice despite the smile that she was giving him. He was quite aware of her unhappy married life although she had not openly told him about it. His sister was thrown into an arranged marriage with a foreign nobleman by their father. The king of Kaminari had vehemently opposed her relationship with one of his lieutenants. Her father had demoted her lover to a foot soldier as a retaliation to her disobedience. Princess Jun eventually consented to her father's wishes in order to prevent him from further punishing her ex-lover but the forced marriage had severed ties between father and daughter. She had not written to her family nor visited Kaminari ever since the wedding.

"Your husband is away I presume?"

"Oh yes, he had to oversee several businesses so he is not always here."

Aside from a few servants standing by the door, they were the only ones sharing a sumptuous lunch. Prince Ren could imagine how lonely his sister must have been eating meals all by herself. Her marriage did not produce any offspring to whom she could divert all her love and attention.

"Ren, I'm sorry for not attending your engagement ball… I received a telegram from Mother but I couldn't bear to see the king. I still haven't forgiven Father for what he did. Do accept my congratulations though." Jun lightened up, "I'm glad you are to marry Princess Anna, the girl you have always loved since you were a little boy."

The prince almost choked on the steak he was eating. His father, Bason and now his sister… Just how many people could have known about his secret love towards his best friend? Nevertheless, the mention of his fiancée's name had brought back heartbreaking memories to him. He did not feel like enjoying his lunch anymore.

Jun noticed the sudden change in her little brother's demeanor. "What's wrong Ren? Don't you like the food? I'll ask the cook to prepare a different dish for you."

"I guess they haven't told you…"

"Told me about what?"

"The Kouku royal family was murdered…"

The duchess rose from her seat and rushed towards her little brother. "Oh Ren, I did not know. I'm sorry… Who could have done such atrocity?"

The prince spent the next few minutes narrating to his sister what had transpired in Kouku.

"We buried the king and queen before I left for the Royal Patch Academy but we were not able to find Anna's body. Tell me, Jun, am I at my wit's end for believing that she is still alive despite everyone urging me to move on?"

His sister knelt down before him and patted his head just like when they were kids. If he had not been so depressed, Prince Ren could have slapped her hand away in embarrassment.

"Why do you think she's still alive?" Jun gazed at him pitifully.

"I just know that she is. Besides we have only searched within the territories of Kouku and Kaminari."

"What are you implying?" The duchess stood up and placed her hands on her hips. She could sense that her brother was up to something.

"We haven't looked for her at the other side of the Great Spirit's River. I heard two sailors talking about searching for a missing person in Kasai and Kouri. Even though they meant it as a joke, I couldn't help but think that they may have a point. It is worth a try."

"That is dangerous Ren! Do you know you can lose your head for trespassing? How are you going to carry out your plan?"

"I'll find a way. If I don't find her there, then that's the time I'll accept that she's dead."

"You're strong-headed as always," Jun sighed and went back to her seat. "Even if I tell you to give it all up, I know that you won't. Go find her if it would soothe your aching heart but just in case your search is fruitless, I want you to promise me that you would continue to live your life and just be thankful that Anna was part of it."

The Tao heir nodded and took another bite of steak. He was grateful for having a sister like Jun.

* * *

**In one of the Kasai palace tea rooms...**

"Grandma!" Prince Yoh burst through the door leading to Queen Kino's favorite balcony where she's spending her tea break with Anna. He was panting heavily and seemed to be in a rush. "I'm sorry… for disturbing your tea time… but can I… borrow Anna from you?"

"You have disrupted an interesting conversation Yoh," the old royal answered him sternly. "…but you may do so for she is at your disposal."

Anna stood up and thanked the old queen for inviting her again. She then went over to the prince who instantly apologized to her, "I'm sorry if we had offended you in some way… Mother took Tamao for shopping at the central town. We can continue with our tutoring session."

As soon as they were out in the hallway, the blond girl folded her arms and glared at the prince, "I don't feel like teaching you anymore."

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Anna! It won't happen again," the prince bowed down. He could feel his personal maid eyeing him from head to foot.

"Come."

Anna had uttered the word with extreme calmness that he was sure she was planning on doing something sinister to him. They ended up walking towards the training grounds. Yoh wanted to sink to his feet.

"50 rounds and make it quick!" the blond girl pushed him when he merely gaped at the dusty ground.

The prince's sweat dripped from his face as he jogged under the scorching heat of the afternoon sun. He swore to himself that he would ask Tamao not to bother him anymore during his tutoring sessions with Anna. He glanced over the tree where his personal maid was staying to check on how she's doing. Before she left his room earlier, he had tried to tell her to take a good rest first for she did not look so well but she had already slammed the door behind her.

The Kasai heir approached his personal maid by the time he had finished his fifty rounds of non-stop jogging. He found her lying down on the ground probably sleeping due to boredom.

"Anna, I'm finished…" Yoh whispered audibly but the blond girl did not budge.

"Anna?" He touched her cheek to gently slap her awake but her hot skin had informed him of her feverish state.

The prince carried her in his arms and hurriedly walked towards the palace ignoring the weird stares he received from the servants that he had run into. He gently laid the blond girl on his large soft bed then took a basin of warm water and a towel from the bath room. He wiped her face and arms before placing the damp towel on her forehead.

"You don't look so scary when you're asleep, Princess Anna…" Yoh smiled as he gazed at her then he slapped his forehead in embarrassment. He would have received a good spanking had the blond girl been conscious at that time.

"Don't…" a soft whisper came out of Anna's lips.

"I'm not doing anything. I swear!" Yoh raised his hands as if proving his innocence.

However, the girl did not respond to him and continued to murmur in her sleep.

The Kasai heir sighed in relief. She was just sleep talking. She's probably having a dream or a nightmare. He listened attentively so he could understand what she was saying.

"Don't… leave… me…"

Prince Yoh hesitantly took her hand. He blushed furiously as he wrapped his fingers over hers.

"I won't Anna…" he whispered to her. "I'm just right here..."

"Don't go…"

"...Ren..."

He felt a slight pang on his chest. Why was he suddenly wishing for her to call out his name instead?


	5. The King of Kouri

" _I'm leaving tomorrow…"_

_There was hesitation in his voice when he broke the news to her. He diligently waited for her response but she quickly turned her back on him and pretended to be more interested in the view through the window than his surprise news. It wasn't the kind of reaction he was expecting from her. He was waiting for her to scream and berate him for notifying her of his sudden departure after two weeks of not showing up in the palace. However, she remained silent and this had made him feel uncomfortable and a little scared._

" _It was the king's orders…." He tried to explain. He wanted her to know that the decision was not made by him but by his persistent father. There was no way he could disobey his father's wishes. After all, he had threatened him that he would lose his right as heir if he would not agree to his terms. His father always got what he wanted. He was the sort of man who would force his own daughter to marry a stranger just because he didn't approve of her lover._

" _I'm sorry for not telling you sooner. I had to prepare for my departure…" It was not entirely a lie although the palace servants were the ones who did the packing. He just dreaded this day that he would have to say goodbye to her. They had been best friends for more than seven years so it would take some time for them to get used to this separation. It also took him two weeks to muster enough courage for he was planning to confess to her about his long-kept feelings before he leaves for the academy._

" _When will you be back?" she finally spoke without looking at him._

" _After four years…" These words triggered a feeling of homesickness even though he had not yet left. He just realized how long he would be away from the kingdom and from her. "… I'll be back before Father hands over the throne to me."_

" _Have you got anything more to say?" she asked as if implying that she was getting bored with their conversation already but the prince took it as an opportunity._

" _Well, there is something…" He whispered before hesitatingly enclosing her in an embrace to which she let out a silent gasp. Her shoulders tensed and she stood enveloped in his arms as stiff as a stone statue. He did not care if she did not even bother to turn around to face him or return the gesture. His mind was made up. He was going to tell her now that he had been secretly in love with her all these years._

_His heart pounded, his cheeks were flushed and his hands were clammy when he took one big breath before uttering..._

" _I'm going to miss you."_

_Those were not the words that he wished to say although in all honesty he was surely going to miss her. He cursed himself for becoming weak in the knees all of a sudden. He was afraid of her rejection. He did not want to leave the kingdom feeling miserable because his best friend broke his heart. He was the son of the proud King Yuan Tao after all._

_The princess quickly pulled herself away from his embrace and stared at him with piercing eyes._

" _Stop it."_

_He was slightly offended. "It was just a small hug, Anna. It's not like we never did it before. Why are you suddenly so angry?"_

" _Why won't I be? You stopped coming over for two weeks for no apparent reason then all of a sudden you're saying goodbye because your father told you to leave."_

" _I have no choice." He tried to explain himself. "Please Anna… I don't want us to part with ill feelings toward each other."_

" _You always have a choice, Ren, and you chose to leave so GO," she pointed towards the door. "But if you leave now, I won't speak to you anymore!"_

_It was pointless to reason out with her when she's angry. He knew this too well. With a heavy heart, he slowly paced towards the door and reached for the knob. This is not how he had imagined their meeting to end._

" _Believe me Anna. I would choose to stay but the whole kingdom depends on me. I hope you'll see me off at the Kaminari port tomorrow morning," he muttered to her but he was certain that she won't come. She was too furious at him to grant his simple request._

_The princess' air of indifference dissipated the instant her best friend had closed the door behind him. When she could no longer hear his footsteps, she dropped down to her knees and released all the bitter tears that she had been trying to control._

" _Don't leave me… Don't go Ren.."_

* * *

Anna opened her eyes and found herself in a spacious elegantly furnished room. If not for the brunet who was snoring from a chair by the bedside, she would have thought that she was back at the Kouku palace for she was comfortably lying on a large fluffy bed with a golden chandelier hovering above her. The prince's chamber began to dim with the setting of the sun. Just how long had she been in there? The last thing she remembered was asking the prince to do fifty rounds of jogging as a punishment.

_I must have fainted and have been carried by the prince into his room._

The long sleep had brought back her health. Her fever was almost gone and she felt completely reinvigorated. She turned her gaze to the boy who was drooling on the bed cover. More than his stupid facial expression, it was their intertwined hands that had caught her attention. A blush crept to her cheeks. She tried to pull her hand from his but he had held on to it more tightly.

"Wake up, wake up, Yoh..." she shook his shoulders forcefully with her other hand but the prince only grunted and continued to sleep. It seemed that he got too tired from what she had ordered him to do earlier.

"Fine, you may rest for a few minutes more." She removed a piece of leaf that was sticking on his raven head and gently smoothened out the wayward strands of his hair. "Thank you Yoh… for staying by my side."

Suddenly the door burst open and a heaving pink-haired girl appeared, "I'm back Yoh!"

* * *

**In the Kasai palace dining hall...**

The Kasai royal family's dinner that night started out intensely with Tamao announcing that she wanted her fiancé's personal maid out of the palace.

"Why so? What did she do?" Queen Keiko inquired.

"When we have returned from our short trip, Your Grace, I found that girl in Yoh's bed."

"You're overreacting Tamao," her fiancé said between bites.

"Well, was she really in your bed, grandson?" old King Yohmei asked with an amused expression. He was reprimanded with a stern look from his wife.

The prince reddened with embarrassment. "Er… yes, I let her sleep in my bed Grandpa. She was sick with fever. In fact, she had lost consciousness earlier."

"Oh dear, is she okay now?" his mother asked worriedly.

"I think so. She's resting in her own sleeping quarters."

"Don't be fooled, Yoh. She's just feigning her sickness to seduce you," the pink-haired girl couldn't let this one go. "I know the likes of her. She would do everything to elevate herself from her impoverished state even to the point of using her body as -"

"Stop it Tamao," Prince Yoh slammed his goblet down the table.

Everyone's eyes were on him even those of his father who was not participating in the conversation. He was always the cool, calm, collected twin. He rarely showed outbursts of emotion so everybody was startled by his action. The prince felt awkward. Now he was the one who seemed overreacting. Thankfully, the goblet was of high-quality glass so it did not break into pieces. Otherwise, the head servant would be extremely annoyed. It's just that he couldn't allow anyone to accuse his tutor with something lewd.

"Anna's not like that," he said calmly.

"Why are you defending her? Have you known her long enough for you to attest that she is a modest lady as you claim her to be?" Tamao asked with spite.

"No but-"

"I saw her touching you with my own two eyes," the girl's eyes blazed with fury. She was angry that her fiancé chose to side with the opportunistic palace maid. Whatever that wretched woman was doing, it was totally working. Her Yoh was completely blinded by her.

"She was removing the dust from my hair."

"How did you know? You were asleep all the time!"

"I was almost awake." Maybe pretending to be asleep just so he could continue holding Anna's hand was a wrong idea.

"Silence! This conversation is going nowhere," it was the king who broke the tension between his son and his niece.

"Jealousy is a green-eyed monster," old Queen Kino recited the famous saying. She eyed the seething Tamao as she sipped her red wine.

"If you two cannot avoid bickering, at least pledge to me that you'll momentarily stop for the whole duration of the day tomorrow," the king looked at his son then at his fiancée who both nodded vigorously. "A very important guest will be coming over and I expect proper decorum from you. You are not little children anymore. Act as if you were the next rulers of Kasai."

The king then turned to his wife and softened his voice, "My lovely queen, have you gotten the gifts for our visitor?"

"Yes, my king. I had asked help from Tamao in selecting the most elegant ones."

"Who is coming over Father?" Yoh asked curiously.

* * *

**In the palace lobby the morning after...**

Anna was beginning to lose her patience. She had just gotten well from her fever and they were already making her stand in line with the rest of the maids for over an hour. They were instructed by the head servant last night to wake up early, bathe themselves and put on their best uniforms for the king of Kouri was to visit the palace. Even the royal family had prepared themselves for the coming of such a high-profile person. Prince Yoh was dressed regally and his usual mess of black hair was tied up in a neat pony tail. The blond girl couldn't help but notice how fine-looking the goofy prince was when he acted prim and proper. The Kasai heir must have sensed her staring at him for he had looked her way and threw her his characteristic smile. Anna ignored him and diverted her attention towards the palace's main door.

The blowing of trumpets by the court musicians had announced the arrival of an ornately-decorated brown carriage pulled by four white horses. A pageboy held the carriage door open while a brawny man alighted from it. All the palace servants bowed down as the man entered the palace throwing suspicious looks at every direction.

_So is this the king? Why is he dressed so meagerly? Kouri must have been a very poor kingdom._ Anna thought.

"It's alright, Tona. This is familiar territory. Don't scare them off," a young man's voice was heard from behind the muscular guy.

The king's body guard moved aside and let his master pass. A young man with a light blue hair dressed in white and blue robes appeared before them.

"Welcome to our humble abode, King Horokeu Usui," the palace servants greeted in unison.

"Hello Kasai people." He flashed everyone a big grin.

As soon as friendly greetings had been exchanged, King Mikihisa lost no time in discussing business with the head of his ally kingdom. They entered the throne room to have some privacy but he remained standing as he conversed with his fellow king.

"Your news must be of extreme importance as you have come to deliver it yourself."

"To tell you the truth, I really have no idea King Miki," the young monarch scratched his head.

The Kasai king made a mental note to remind his friend, the former ruler of Kouri to advise his son not to call him that nickname.

"But Father asked me to personally give this to you," King Horokeu took out an envelope with the elaborate dry seal of a wolf.

"How is Lycan by the way?" King Mihikisa inquired after receiving the letter.

"Father said he is enjoying his free life as a commoner because he can look after my sister while she's studying at the academy. I think he's just spying on Pirika and her suitors."

The king of Kasai smiled, "That is a possibility. I'd be as strict as he is to my own daughter if I had one. Well, Your Highness, thank you for this letter. I won't be keeping you long in this boring discussion. Please enjoy your short stay in Kasai."

"It was a pleasure, King Miki," the Kouri monarch gave him a thumbs-up and left the room in haste.

King Mikihisa sighed, "What were you thinking, Lycan? You could have let your son enjoy his youth first before giving the throne to him."

He tore the envelope open and read his friend's correspondence with his eyes. It was a short one but it was enough to convince him. He folded the paper afterwards and called out to the guards stationed at the throne room's entrance. "Tell the head royal guard to look for Manta and Ryuu. I'll be sending them to another mission."


	6. The Royal Patch Academy

Tamao peered through the key hole of her fiancé's bedroom door. The prince was scratching his head in embarrassment while his tutor stared at him with an irritated look. It seemed that her Yoh had failed again to respond correctly to his personal maid's queries. Had she been there, she could have instantly whispered the answers to him. Tamao had wanted to spend time with her Yoh but old Queen Kino's warning against her interference with the prince's study session was preventing her from barging into the room. She was frightened of the former queen of Kasai ever since she was young. She did not wish to be on her bad side and so she could do nothing but to wait outside for the session to be over. Yet she must continue to keep an eye on her fiancé before he becomes completely ensnared with that scheming blond girl called Anna.

_Yoh and I are perfectly happy._ _Why did she have to come into our lives? Who is this Anna anyway?_

"Who are you spying Tamao?" a playful voice whispered to her ear.

The pink-haired girl veered to the right to face and reprimand the intruder of her privacy but the narrow gap between them had unexpectedly landed her lips into his.

A loud scream from behind the door had brought the occupants of the room to their feet. The door swung open to reveal an alarmed Prince Yoh followed by a startled Anna whose worried expression quickly changed to annoyance when they found out the cause of the disturbance.

A hysterical Tamao was repeatedly pounding and screaming on the bulky chest of Kouri's royal bodyguard, Tona who was shielding his flushed master from her blows.

"I'm sorry Tamao! I swear I didn't mean to kiss you! Our faces were just too close!"

"That was my first kiss you moron! It was meant for Yoh and not for you!"

A number of palace maids and royal guards were already running towards the scene.

"People, people, we can take things from here. This is just a minor misunderstanding," the king of Kouri grew even redder.

"It's alright guys, we can handle this," Prince Yoh tried to dispel the curious crowd.

"Don't drive them away, Yoh. They have to see how I would make this pervert pay!" Tamao angrily reached for King Horokeu's robes to no avail. Tona had successfully grabbed her arms.

"Argh! Let me go!" the pink-haired girl tried to scratch the bodyguard's cheeks.

"That's enough Tamao." Old Queen Kino made her way through the small crowd. "That is unbecoming of a princess."

The pink-haired girl bowed down her head in shame. Of all the people in the palace, it was her future grandmother-in-law who she didn't want to disappoint the most. "I'm sorry your Majesty…."

The elderly queen ignored her and addressed the blond girl by the door, "Anna, please accompany my grandson and our guests to the royal garden. I have some business to finish here."

* * *

"That was quite a ruckus there," remarked Prince Yoh as they walked along the stony path. He had to admit that his fiancé was way overboard but he couldn't help but pity her for he knew how severe his grandmother's punishments could be. In fact, Anna reminded him so much of the old queen.

"I'm sorry if I kissed your fiancée," King Horokeu let out a sigh. His visit to Kasai had only produced a scandal. Tamao would not forgive him that easily.

"It was just an accident! I swear." He had a secret admiration for his friend's fiancée but it's not like he wanted to kiss her. There's only one girl he would have done it with though there would never be a chance to do it ever.

"It's okay Horo-Horo," the Kasai royal grinned at him. His childhood friend was a prankster but he would never do something intentionally disrespectful to a girl.

"I couldn't believe you. Someone kissed your fiancée and you are not bothered at all. Do you even love Tamao?"

"I prefer not to answer that."

"Or perhaps another woman has enamored my dear friend?" The tall king swung his right arm over the prince's shoulder and whispered, "Say Yoh, who is that lovely lady with you?"

The prince glanced at the blond girl quietly walking in front of them. "She's Anna, my tutor and personal maid…"

"You've got a personal maid? Wow, and I thought your brother is the only demanding royal blood in this kingdom."

Prince Yoh sighed.

_How come everybody's so surprised that I requested for one?_

"But I envy you. I wish I had a cute girl to accompany me everywhere. Ever since I became king I'm stuck here with Tona."

"How is Pirika by the way?" Yoh asked quickly changing the topic.

"Well, in the last five letters she wrote to me all she talked about was this certain prince who was getting on her nerves."

"Is he bullying her?"

"Not really. She was just being completely ignored. According to her, he never talked or even acknowledged that she existed. When they were randomly paired for a school report, he had requested another person to switch partners with him. Those incidences that may mean nothing are what Pirika would babble about continuously. You know my sister, she's the sensitive type but I think it's just normal for that prince to treat her that way."

"Why? Do you know him personally?"

"No, but Pirika told me that he was the prince of Kaminari."

* * *

**At the Royal Patch Academy...**

The aroma of breakfast had filled the ornately furnished dining hall of the academy. Prince Ren hungrily made his way through a small group of girls who were engaged in an animated discussion about the latest fashion in the land. He was famished for he had a tiring journey last night. Fortunately, the headmaster had been informed about the date of his return by perhaps a telegram from his father and had made the guards wait for him until his arrival at the ungodly hour of midnight. King Yuan would surely berate him in a lengthy letter as soon as he found out that his return to the academy was delayed by more than six hours. It was his elder sister's fault. Jun had insisted that he stay longer in her mansion.

Prince Ren spotted his favorite seat from one of the wooden tables in the dining hall where his two noble friends sat. He ignored their astonished stares as he began to feed on the delicious breakfast waiting for him.

"Now look who just came back from the sea," said Chocolove McDonnell, the grandson of the Duke of Comedia.

"Don't start Chocolove," the Tao royal stuffed a piece of bread into his friend's mouth before he could even utter another word. "I'm not in the mood for one of your lame jokes."

"You just came back from home and you're already grumpy," his other friend, Lyserg Diethel chuckled. He was the son of the Duke of Morphia who also headed the Royal Police.

"Renny is ALWAYS grumpy, Lyserg," Chocolove corrected him after washing down the piece of bread with milk.

"So why did you suddenly leave for Kaminari? Is everything alright with your kingdom?" the green-haired boy asked. The prince had left school with no further explanation upon receiving his father's telegram.

"I got engaged," Prince Ren muttered audibly without looking at them.

Chocolove's eyes sparkled. "Ooooooh... Our Renny is getting married!" He exclaimed loud enough that every nobleman and woman in the dining hall directed his gaze towards the Kaminari prince.

"If you won't shut up, I'll stuff this whole apple into your mouth," threatened the Tao heir.

The black boy reclined to his chair. "Awww… I was just excited with the whole engagement thing."

"Are you marrying your best friend? The one you've been telling us about since we were fourteen?" Lyserg tried to calm him down.

The prince nodded curtly.

"Congratulations then!" his friend held out his hand but the prince ignored it.

"There's no reason to congratulate me."

"Why?"

With a hushed voice, Prince Ren told everything that had happened during his short vacation - - - the surprised engagement ball, the Kouku royal family's murder, and the fruitless search for his fiancée. His visit to Kaminari had only ended painfully.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know..." Lyserg lowered his gaze. What was he suppose to say to his friend after losing a girl he was in love with ever since he was a child?

"You were widowed even before you got married. That's so heartbreaking!" Chocolove sniffed.

"Anna's not dead yet. She's just missing."

Chocolove and Lyserg fell silent and threw each other meaningful looks. Somehow they had quietly reached to a mutual decision not to upset their hurting friend as he was still in a stage of denial over the death of a loved one. There's no arguing with Ren not when it came to Anna. They had known that over the three years they had been friends with him.

It was the Tao heir who broke the awkward silence. "Where is Jeanne by the way?" he asked Lyserg when he noticed the empty chair where his friend's cousin would usually sit. He had to steer the discussion away from his missing fiancée for he knew his friends would only think that he had gone insane with grief.

"Marco fetched her yesterday morning," Lyserg explained. "I heard that the duke's health is deteriorating fast. Uncle must have asked for her. It'll make her feel better if YOU would comfort her when she returns from Mont St. Michel, Ren."

"Why? Can't you do it yourself?" asked the Kaminari prince who was oblivious to his friend's intention.

"Well, yes but I think you would understand her situation better than us." _That was a smart way to put it_. Lyserg thought.

"If Ren doesn't want to, I will gladly comfort Jeanne even if you did not ask me," Chocolove said dreamily.

"Thank you for your concern Chocolove but Jeanne would rather prefer her enigmatic fiancé over you."

"You are so mean, Lyserg," the black boy bit his lip. "… and I thought we'd make great cousins in the future."

"I am just telling the truth."

"I have all the looks and riches to compete for Jeanne's hand!"

"Hmmm… Though I have only seen my cousin's fiancé a few times, I do think he exceeds you in the first aspect."

"How come Jeanne never mentioned to me that she has a fiancé," Ren wondered out loud. "I've told her about Anna but she did not say anything about her future husband."

"Maybe she doesn't want you to know because you'll stop being friends with her if you found out who her fiancé is."

_Oh crap._ Lyserg scolded himself. _I have said too much._

The Tao prince stared at him with a baffled expression.

"Forget it, Master Silva is already on his way to class." Lyserg spotted their instructor walk past the dining hall.

The three boys immediately stood up and rushed towards the red carpeted corridor. A girl with a long light blue hair carrying a pile of books flurried alongside them. In her hurry she had lost her footing and fell face flat on the floor. Lyserg and Chocolove instantly went down to their knees to pick up the books while Ren helped the girl up.

It was the Kouri princess.

She was more flustered at being assisted by the Kaminari prince than having literally kissed the red carpet from her earlier fall. The two boys handed her the books and asked if she was alright. She hurriedly thanked them and went off to join the group of students trailing behind the tall brown-skinned instructor.

"That was Pirika Usui whom you have assisted, Ren," Chocolove uttered in disbelief.

"I know. So what?"

"Well she was like a disgusting cockroach to you. You NEVER went near her," Lyserg reminded him.

"She's in need. Besides, I'm not afraid of cockroaches. Come on," Prince Ren motioned them to hurry up.

His two friends trailed behind him trying to figure out if it was really the Kaminari prince who came back to the academy.


	7. The Princess of Kouri

Prince Ren and his two friends hastily entered a small room which resembled a mini library. There was a huge ancient world map displayed on the wall at the back of the room. Book shelves full of thick and old volumes on the history of every monarchy and kingdom in the world lined up at both sides. In front of the room stood Silva, a member of the Patch clan whose roots can be traced to an old nobility of the land who had established the first preparatory school for royal bloods almost five centuries ago.

"Ah it's nice to see that you are back Prince Ren," the instructor greeted the Tao heir the moment he saw him enter the room. "I'd like to think that of all courses in the academy, mine is what you missed the most."

The Kaminari prince groaned as he took his seat. _Society of Royals_ was his least favorite subject. He just couldn't see the need to study the history of other lands or appreciate the importance of forming alliances with foreign kingdoms. Kaminari was contented with Kouku as its sole ally. They were loyal partners who were formidable enough to stand against their neighbors or even against invading foreign kingdoms.

"As you all know, the Royal Patch Academy will be turning 500 years old three weeks from now," announced Silva. All nineteen pupils stared at him with no sign of interest or excitement.

"To commemorate the foundation of our beloved academy," he continued, "the management had decided to organize a friendship ball."

Eagerness shone in every female student's eyes. A ball meant dressing up in stylish gowns and making themselves beautiful in front of their suitors.

"This will be attended by the young noble men and women from every kingdom in the world."

"Are you inviting even our enemy kingdoms? Why call it a friendship ball if there will be enemies coming?" a young lad scoffed at the whole idea.

"Yes, we are," the instructor confirmed with a tone of finality. "In fact our personnel had started delivering the invitation letters six months ago. To be fair, we had encouraged all kingdoms and dukedoms to send at most four representatives. However, it is really up to them if they would accept it or not."

Prince Ren was saddened. If Anna did not go missing, he would be going with her to the ball.

"The friendship ball's objective is to promote peace and harmony among the monarchies."

_Not to mention encourage new enrollees as the number of students had dwindled since that fateful incident seven years ago._ Silva thought.

"As for all of you students, we already sent telegrams to your families two months ago and I'm glad to inform you that majority of them had responded positively. The list of those who were not permitted to attend is with assistant headmaster Bron. You may check with him after class. Those who will not attend the ball are all mandated to stay in the academy during the event."

Majority of the pupils crossed their fingers. This was a good opportunity to finally spend time outside school whose strict rules barred them from leaving its premises.

"This is a masquerade ball by the way," Silva grinned. "The use of masks will hopefully inhibit your prejudices against other clans and kingdoms." The instructor's gaze fell on the Kaminari prince who scowled when their eyes met.

"Following the tradition of masquerade balls, we will be asking all attendees to take off their masks as part of the event's closing activity."

Students began conversing with their seatmates in excited whispers about what attire to wear or made guesses on who their families had decided for them to bring along to the ball.

"So Master Silva, can we go to town to purchase ball gowns, shoes, masks and jewelry?" a tall gregarious girl beamed at the instructor.

"No," the man in front said flatly. "We had requested your families in the telegram to send over your ball attire and accessories starting this week. Moreover, I'd like to reiterate that leaving the premises of the academy without our knowledge is strictly prohibited. Our school rules will also be applied during the friendship ball. We will be deploying a special security force to patrol the venue."

The students did not seem to mind the stringent policies that would be imposed during the upcoming gathering of royals. Silva had to quiet them down when their restless whispers turned into loud thrilled chatters.

"Now, I'd like to remind you to exhibit good manners and proper etiquette during the ball. Remember you are representing your kingdom and your actions will clearly show what kind of leaders you really are. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes Master Silva…" the whole class chorused.

"Good. Now, the announcement about the friendship ball is just an icing on the cake. The real exciting part here is your homework for my subject," the Patch mentor smirked.

Everyone groaned.

Silva took out a glass fish bowl containing small folded pieces of white paper. "All the young men, please come forward and pick one. Do not open it until I tell you to do so. Lyserg, let's start with you."

The green-haired boy who sat at the leftmost side of the front row stood up and approached the teacher's desk to make his pick. The rest of the male students followed.

The instructor spoke as soon as the last one got back to his seat, "Since males and females are equally numbered in this class, young men, you will be paired up with a female classmate whose name was written in the paper you took. Your homework is to gather firsthand information about each other's kingdom. We will limit the information to the kingdom's history, its geography, demographics, culture and traditions. You are to submit the report one week from now. Oh and by the way, you are not allowed to exchange partners if you're not comfortable with yours."

Chocolove and Lyserg stared at the Kaminari Prince from the corner of their eyes.

"Otherwise, the purpose of this homework will be defeated. That is all. I would no longer prolong your excitement or agony, young men, you may now look at the paper."

Cries of triumph and gasps were heard afterwards. Those who already peeked at the names left their seats and went to their partners to start on the assignment.

"Darn it! Why not her?" Chocolove pulled his hair out of frustration as he approached Ren's table to check on his luck.

"I'm paired with my cousin. Disappointed Choco?" Lyserg walked along with him. "I guess I can start with the research in Jean's absence. After all, she's a relative. Who did you get Ren?"

The Tao heir seemed fixated at the paper he's holding.

"Lyserg," Chocolove nudged his friend as he peered at Ren, "don't you recognize that expression before? He made the same face when he picked -"

Ren abruptly stood up and put the paper on his desk for his two friends to read before he made his way to his partner's side of the room.

The name _Pirika Usui_ was written on it.

"We can exchange partners if you want to, Ren. I'm sure Master Silva would understand your situation," Lyserg called out to him but his friend just waved to tell him it was fine.

"Hey," the Kaminari prince pulled a chair nearby and sat next to the Kouri princess. "I guess we're partners in this."

"I can appeal to Master Silva if you don't want to pair up with me," the girl snapped at him.

"I doubt that he would listen to you. He already stated his policy regarding this homework. Besides, there are no enemy kingdoms in this academy," Ren took out his pen and notebook to begin his data gathering.

"Now look who's talking. You're the one who's been ignoring me all the time," Pirika folded her arms across her chest.

"Oh? And you were expecting some attention from me? Just can't resist my charms, princess of Kouri?" he sneered at her.

The girl's cheeks turned pink. In her embarrassment, she accidentally dropped her pen which the prince retrieved from the floor. She snatched it from his grip and started scribbling down on her notebook.

"Let's just get this done already! But I'm telling you I won't reveal too much information regarding our kingdom."

"Fine by me," said the prince.

* * *

"So what's your progress?" Lyserg asked Ren during lunch break.

The prince read out a few sentences from his scribbles then slammed his notebook shut. He started slicing his steak vigorously in frustration.

"After four hours of discussion, that's all you got from her?" Chocolove asked in disbelief. He was almost finished with his food as he had literally run into the dining hall the minute the bell rang.

"Well, I'm trying to be nice but she's trying to be difficult."

"Did you repay her deed by not telling something about your kingdom, too?" his green-haired friend teased him.

"No, I spent the whole time attempting to squeeze out information from her that there was no time left for me to give her mine. She said she'll just look for references about Kaminari."

"Well, I guess you should do the same. We could go to the library after our War Tactics class and fencing practice," Lyserg suggested.

"Personally, I don't understand why you need to bring the conflict in your land here in school," Chocolove rested his chin on the palm of his hands. "Just imagine how things would go during the friendship ball if you finally meet the other royals of Kouri and Kasai."

"I'm sure we can manage not to kill each other," the Tao heir said a matter-of-factly.

"That was really friendly of you, Renny. Hey Lyserg, I heard Pirika had an older brother who previously attended here. If he comes to the ball, it would be the right time to ask-"

The green-haired boy shoved a banana into his mouth.

"I suggest you stop saying stupid things, Choco," Lyserg's left eye twitched.

"You're so cruel! This banana isn't peeled yet!" The enraged boy took the fruit out and began eating it.

"What's the big deal with the Usui siblings anyway?" The Tao heir raised an eyebrow.

"You're so oblivious, Renny. Don't you know that our Lyserg here is-"

Another banana shot straight into the black boy's mouth.

"Okay, okay. I get it. I'll shut up!" Chocolove took out the new banana and started eating it also.

"Maybe it's a good thing Pirika's brother dropped out of the academy before you came, Ren," Lyserg tried to dispel the Kaminari prince's curiousity. "Otherwise, it would have been a more awkward situation for you."

"Why did he drop out by the way? He was already gone when I enrolled here," Chocolove wondered.

"Well, we were told by the headmaster that he would just be taking a short vacation. After all, an important friend of his died."

"Woah! Death in the academy? This topic is getting interesting!" exclaimed Chocolove. "What's the cause of death? Is he sick?"

"It was a she. We were just informed that she died during the night because of a heart problem. We didn't get to see her because the corpse was already transported to her home. Come to think of it, the academy had only imposed the strict rules after her death. The Kouri prince did not return to school so I'm guessing he was tremendously affected by it. In the next school term, Pirika came to the academy."

Prince Ren quietly stood up and gathered his things, "I'm going ahead. I'll meet you later in class."

His two friends watched him leave feeling a bit guilty.

"Maybe we should stop talking about dead girls, Lyserg."

* * *

**At the Kasai palace lobby...**

"Achoo! Achoo!" The King of Kouri wiped his runny nose with a handkerchief. He had been sneezing nonstop ever since they got back from the Kasai royal garden. He was about to leave for his kingdom so the palace people had re-assembled by the front door to bid him farewell. He was going to miss Kasai. It was very rare for him to leave Kouri to visit his childhood friend nowadays.

"Are you alright Horo-Horo?" Prince Yoh looked at his friend with concern.

"I'm alright, Yoh. It must have been the flowers. I'm allergic to some of them. They are beautiful but very dangerous for me. That's why I usually stay indoors when the butterbur begins to bloom. The fields look magical. Come visit Kouri with Tamao and Anna to see for yourselves. Well, maybe when you're not grounded anymore and the girls have cooled their heads."

King Horokeu took a quick glance at his friend's fiancée who glowered at him. It would take some time before the pink-haired girl would forgive him. He did not really mean to steal a kiss from her. It was his first kiss, too.

He then grinned at Yoh's personal maid, Anna among the lined up servants. She also responded in the same infuriated manner as Tamao.

"Actually, I'm referring to your swollen right cheek," the Kasai heir whispered to him.

"This is JUST an allergic reaction, Yoh," he said with a tinge of embarrassment.

On the contrary, it was a nice-to-meet you gift from the blond girl who slapped him hard when he tried to kiss her hand as they were introduced. Perhaps, she was not used to such regal gestures or perhaps she realized that he was hitting on her but did not like him as well.

_The cute girls in Kasai are really strong but quick-tempered and they only have their eyes on Yoh. I need to start looking for a bride or else I would end up with no heir._ The king of Kouri thought.

"I must be going now before the sun sets in," he climbed into the carriage followed by his bodyguard, Tona. He then opened the window and peered out from it.

"Thanks for the hospitality King Miki, Queen Keiko, Yoh. I have enjoyed my short stay here."

The Kasai monarch nodded. "You are always welcome to our kingdom. Please extend my invitation to your father. It's been years since I have last seen Lycan."

"Ahhhh King Miki, it's been years since my father has last seen your face as well." The Kouri king's statement elicited laughter from everyone except the Kasai ruler.

"Take care on your way home," King Mikihisa bowed down ignoring the suppressed giggles behind him.

"Have a safe trip King Horokeu!" the palace personnel said in unison.

"Bye people of Kasai!"

* * *

**At the Royal Patch Academy library...**

_How convenient_.

Ren snickered as he took down notes from a dusty volume about the kingdom of Kouri. The school day had ended and they were spending the remaining afternoon in the library researching on their _Society of Royals_ homework.

His two friends noticed his glee as he copied information from the book. However, the delight from his face was replaced with bewilderment when a light-blue-haired girl marched towards their place and slammed a book against the wooden table. The Patch librarian rewarded them with a glare from across the room.

"This is unfair! There is nothing of value written in this book," Pirika said in a hushed tone.

Ren took the thin brown volume and skimmed through the pages. He would have laughed out to his heart's content had the librarian not shot them a stern look for the second time. The book only contained short paragraphs about the topics they were suppose to research and majority of the subsections had either the one-liner "Due to the request of the royal family, this information is withheld" or the single word "unknown" printed under them.

"So you need me after all," the Tao heir smirked at her.

"Argh! Stop being annoying and self-conceited!"

"I'm just telling the truth princess."

"If it weren't for this assignment, I would never have any reason to speak with you!"

"And you Princess Pirika," the librarian appeared behind her with his arms folded, "should not have talked loudly here. You are banned from the library for a week."

Ren sneered at her.

"What?! But Master Kalim-"

"You may take the prince of Kaminari with you outside. He is also banned from using this place for a week."

Ren's jaws dropped. "But she started it!"

Pirika stuck out her tongue at him.

"Talk again and your punishment will be extended for another week," the librarian warned.

Ren angrily gathered his things. "See you at dinner…" he told his two friends before following the Kouri princess outside.

"This is all your fault Kaminari prince!" Pirika snarled as they marched upstairs towards their dormitories.

"Mine?! You're the one who came and disturbed my peace, Kouri princess!" Ren retorted. "If you did not act so difficult this morning then we could have finished the homework!"

"Hmph! I don't feel like doing this assignment now. I'm going to my room! Let's see tomorrow if I'm in a good mood" the girl stomped away from him.

"You're the only one who's going to fail this subject Princess!" Ren screamed at her.

They separated ways at the top of the stairs which led to the east and west wings of the academy where the male and female dorms were located respectively.

Ren slammed the door shut and lie down on his bed. Lyserg and Chocolove would just knock when it's time for dinner. After all, their rooms were just next to his. Right now, he didn't want to be troubled by anyone. He took out the necklace with the rose pendant from his pant's left pocket and raised it over his face. It swung like the pendulum of a grandfather clock as if telling him that he was running out of time.

"I'm sure you'll scold me for doing this but I'll find you Anna even if I have to befriend the enemy."

* * *

**At the Kouku palace dining hall...**

"So how are things going on here?" King Yuan asked his royal counterpart from across the table. He was invited over by his ally kingdom's ruler to dine with him that night. "You know my wife would be pissed that I would be missing dinner at home so this should really be important."

The newly-appointed king of Kouku waved at the servants to leave them as soon as they had set the food on the table.

"And something confidential I assume.." King Yuan gulped down his red wine.

"I'm still trying to gain the favor of the people by going around town and overseeing projects to ensure their completion."

"A good move for a new king, I must say but I don't think boasting of your early accomplishments for this kingdom is the real reason you had invited me here."

"You're right," King Ryuuken Tori eyed the Kaminari monarch. "This is about the spy mission I sent to the other side of the land."

King Yuan's eyes gleamed with interest. "Go on.. You have my full attention." He filled his goblet with more wine.

"My men had confirmed it. They have been digging new tunnels and receiving crates of weapons from ships disguised as merchant vessels at night. I do think they are preparing for a third war against us."

The Tao king banged his fists on the table. "I knew it! We have to take action NOW. We'll crush them before they can attack us!"

"I'm sure you of all people know what a rushed decision could result into, Your Highness." The new Kouku monarch reminded his ally. "Remember them?"

King Yuan turned grim, "Yes, you're absolutely right but when are you planning to open it? That would put everything in motion."

"When the right time comes…"


	8. The Blacksmith of Kouku

"The palace seems awfully quiet today," observed Anna as she walked down the long hallway with the Kasai prince who was whistling a happy tune. The royal was in high spirits ever since breakfast and his personal maid couldn't pinpoint the reason for his unusual cheeriness much less explain the strange peacefulness of her surroundings.

_I wonder what's up with him?_

She peered at the boy from the corner of her eye.

_Did I go easy on him during our tutoring session awhile ago?_

Making the prince stand on the balcony on one foot until he had answered all her questions correctly was not an easy feat. He was shaking all over the whole time!

_Perhaps he's just too happy because he's momentarily free from the physically taxing training Amidamaru is imposing on him._

The warrior left the palace days ago but Anna swore she wouldn't let the prince enjoy this brief period of relaxation.

"Well, Father left with Tamao early this morning," Yoh grinned at her as if he knew that she was trying to read his mind. He couldn't hide his joy for finally getting some peace.

"Now that explains everything," the blond girl muttered.

"Father told us last night during dinner that he needed to visit a sick friend overseas. Afterwards, he asked Tamao if she would like to see Horo-Horo's younger sister, Pirika at the Royal Patch Academy since it's nearby," the prince scratched his nose then smiled at her, "They're good friends, you know."

"Oh, that's something new," Anna raised an eyebrow. "I thought your fiancée clings on to you like some sort of shadow. She can manage to leave your side after all."

"Erm… That's because Pirika and Tamao haven't seen each other for a long time," explained Yoh.

"So when will they come back?"

"Probably after a week or more…"

"Is that so?"

The blond girl walked ahead of the prince then turned around to face him with glowing eyes. She pointed a finger at his chest and stood menacingly close such that they were just a few inches apart. "This would be the perfect time to escape this place. We can think of a way to slip out of here while the king is gone!"

Yoh gulped. That was a very dangerous suggestion coming from her. "But Anna, he might have asked the royal guards to keep an eye on me. It'll be difficult to move around. We'll be punished if we get caught sneaking out of the palace."

His personal maid glared at him even more, "Isn't being your servant enough punishment for me?" She clenched her fists in front of the frightened prince. "Besides, are you saying you can't help me?"

"No, I didn't mean it like that, Anna," Yoh waved his hands frantically. "It's just that it'll be safer to schedule it during the palace servants' day off. We can blend with the crowd as they leave the palace. Believe me, we would be in bigger trouble if they see us climbing out of the walls in the middle of the night."

"Fine!" the blond girl folded her arms. "So what are you going to do when that day comes?"

"Er…." The prince scratched his head and grinned nervously at her. He hadn't thought of it yet. He was already accustomed to having Anna around that he almost forgot his promise to her.

Anna's eyes blazed with fury while Yoh slowly backed away until he hit a stone wall. The enraged girl was about to strangle him when he spotted a wooden door across them.

"I have a plan!" the prince squeaked.

* * *

**In front of an abandoned house in Kouku...**

Amidamaru knocked three times on the door of a small tattered hut. He had been standing there for a few minutes but no one was responding to his calls. He was expecting to hear the usual clanking of metal from inside but only silence welcomed him. The place seemed to have been abandoned for weeks.

He peered through a hole in the window which was covered with thin wooden planks. He only saw darkness. He scanned the old dilapidated house with his eyes trying to decide if this was really the place that he frequented. The once busy abode of Kouku's blacksmith, Mosuke now stood out like a rejected piece of furniture amidst the grandeur of the kingdom's central town.

"Are you a friend of Mosuke's?" an old man holding a long cane inquired from behind Amidamaru.

"Yes," replied the Kasai warrior. He considered the blacksmith a close acquaintance even though they resided in opposing kingdoms.

He had met the blacksmith in a drinking pub on the night of his first mission in Kouku. He found him sitting alone with ten empty pints of ale. It was crowded in the pub that night and Amidamaru had no choice but to share seats with him.

Mosuke did not mind him. Probably he was too intoxicated to even notice him pulling a chair. What he did notice was the two full pints that Amidamaru placed on the table. The Kasai warrior could only finish two without becoming tipsy. After all, he needed to be in good condition for his first royal mission.

Without saying anything, Mosuke grabbed one of his pints and drank it all the way. After that, he pointed at the tip of Amidamaru's sword, the Harusame. Although it was sheathed, Mosuke's eye had caught a slight damage caused by the warrior's rigorous training with the soldiers of Kasai. The blacksmith offered his services to fix the sword as payment for the ale.

Since then, Amidamaru would drop by Mosuke's house and had his weapon maintained every time he went on a spy mission in the enemy kingdom. In return, the warrior will treat him to a drinking session. They would sometimes go home very drunk, singing out of tune songs at the top of their lungs.

He had never mentioned to the blacksmith where he came from. Mosuke was not the chatty type. He never asked questions but Amidamaru knew that his friend was able to deduce and perhaps ignore the fact that he was from the other side of the Great Spirit's River. When Mosuke talked, it was always about his craft and his growing distress over his dying art.

"Have you not heard of his recent passing?" the old man gave Amidamaru a curious look.

The Kasai warrior was taken aback. "He's dead? No, I did not know… I was… overseas most of the time." He bowed down his head in grief. "How did he die?"

"He was murdered," the old man said grimly. "May the Great Spirit bring him peace."

"What?! By whom?" Amidamaru was filled with rage. Mosuke was a very quiet and reserved person except maybe when he was drunk. He wasn't the type to make enemies though. He often said that he preferred making weapons more than using them against another human being.

"Nobody knows…" The old man shook his head. "Every morning my wife would drop by to share our meal with him. Mosuke would skip breakfast when he was too busy or too drunk the night before so he would usually welcome the free food. My wife found him lying in a pool of blood when she came to his house. It took quite a while before she had recovered from the shock. The general who inspected the body said he had been killed with a sword. It's quite ironic for someone who had spent his life forging such weapons."

"Was his killer apprehended?" The white-haired warrior gripped the handle of his sword in anger. He swore he would avenge his friend's death. Why would anyone go after him when he was such a gentle soul?

"Unfortunately, the killer left no traces of his identity. Mosuke's murder remains to be one of the two unsolved cases of our kingdom. Surely you have heard of the royal family's massacre?"

"Yes…"

"It's quite a coincidence that both unfortunate events seemed to have happened on the same night. Mosuke's death was overshadowed by the massacre of our beloved monarchs so only us, his neighbors were able to grieve for him."

"Wait, you mean to say that-"

"Four people were murdered that fateful night - - - our beloved king, queen and princess, and the lowly blacksmith named Mosuke."

* * *

**In the Kasai palace repository of antique documents...**

Anna brushed the dust off a wooden chair before sitting on it. They were in a small repository with shelves as old as the volumes they contained. Her companion had spread a large scroll which looked like the blue print of the Kasai palace on the table in front of her. The prince was quietly examining it.

"Where are we, Yoh?" inquired the blond girl. It was slightly cold inside the room.

"We're at the old Kasai library. We keep ancient books here that nobody likes to read anymore."

Anna rested her chin on her hand, "So what's your plan?"

"Er… As I told you earlier, when the full moon comes most palace maids will take a day off. Only the head palace servant and those who don't want to leave the premises will be left behind. The two royal guards stationed here," the prince pointed at the palace main gate, "…I'm sure you can still remember them as we have met them before, are much stricter towards the people who enter than the people who exit the palace vicinity. Their assumption is that anyone who leaves this place poses no threat since he had been given the permission to enter."

"Okay, so we are going to blend with the crowd so that the gate keepers won't notice us. What will we do after we leave?" His personal maid was getting impatient.

"Erm… We'll hitch a ride from the Central town to Chikyuu then we have to go on foot until we reach the forest and the Great Spirit's River."

"That's it?" Anna shot up from her seat and slammed her hands on the old map. "How very creative!"

"I'm sorry…" the prince lowered his head. "I couldn't think of a faster if not a better way to get you back to your kingdom… "

The blonde girl sighed. Maybe she was expecting too much from such a laidback royal. "The palace people will eventually find out that you have left if you'll be gone for some time. You'll be in big trouble as soon as you come back, Yoh. Just help me get a ride towards the border then I can manage on my own."

The Kasai heir shook his head, "No, I won't do that Anna. A promise is a promise. I'll accompany you throughout your journey home."

"Oh really? Maybe you're just finding a good excuse to escape from these prison walls."

Prince Yoh turned around to hide his flushed cheeks, "Or maybe I just want to make the most of the remaining time we have before we say goodbye to each other…"

The blond girl fell silent. It was apparent that they had gradually grown fond of each other. This was one of the reasons why she wanted to go back home as soon as possible. She didn't like to be accustomed to his presence. She didn't want to come to the point that parting with him could be quite upsetting for there might never be a chance to see him again because of the peace treaty.

"You'll become the queen of Kouku upon returning home… and as for me, I'll be the king of Kasai someday…"

Anna let out a slight smile. If there's one positive thing that would come out of this experience, it was her success in convincing the prince to finally face the music. "So... you've realized that you want to lead this kingdom after all…"

"Because when I'm king, I can make a difference. I'll work hard to free the four kingdoms from the strict rules of the treaty so that we can truly live in peace even if it would take ages or even if I die trying."

His personal maid nodded in approval. Old queen Kino would be delighted to hear that her grandson had wholeheartedly accepted his responsibilities to the throne. She might not agree on his plan to open lines of communication with the enemy kingdoms though.

"Can you promise me one thing, Princess Anna?"

"It depends on what you are asking me to do."

"If I fail on this one and we couldn't see each other anymore, promise me you won't forget about me…" A blush crept into the prince's cheeks.

_Cause I won't definitely forget about you..._

How could he? She was one of those people who believed that he could be king in spite of his flaws. If he had not met Anna, he would just be a laid back prince who would continue to disappoint his family.

"You won't fail, Yoh," the girl told him firmly, "...and if we can't meet each other in one another's palaces, then maybe we can see each other by the Great Spirit's River. You'll be on Kasai's side and I'll be on Kouku's side. Nobody can accuse us of trespassing."

"That's a good idea, Anna. Just in case, we are unable to change the status quo, I'll just be contented watching you from the other side when you get married to Prince Ren, when you play with your children, when you tell stories to them about your adventures in Kasai, when you stroll down the riverbank when you're already old..."

The blond girl sank back to her seat and felt a slight pang in her chest.

_Why is it suddenly painful to leave him behind?_

"Don't mind me, okay? I'll just be hiding behind the trees when your husband or your soldiers are there. That would make me look like a spy or a pervert though... Maybe we should agree on when we should see each other. Anna… Are you crying?" The prince thought he heard a stifled sob.

"No, no, I'm not. Something's just in my eye, stupid."


	9. The Duke of Mont St. Michel

Prince Ren entered the dining hall with a sigh. It had been a long unfruitful morning trying to convince the stubborn princess of Kouri to set aside time to discuss the homework with him. All the rest of the class had started gathering information from their partners except probably for them and for Lyserg and Jeanne. The latter had rushed home by the request of her ailing father three days ago but her green-haired cousin surely could finish the report even without her help. After all, their dukedoms share the same history.

When he finally reached their favorite dining table, he found Chocolove all by himself.

"So Lyserg has finally given up as your friend," he addressed the solitary young man with a smirk on his face. He pulled out a chair and sat across him. He instantly grabbed his fork and knife after hearing his stomach growling for food. Screaming and chasing after the stubborn Kouri princess had made him famished.

The heir to the dukedom of Comedia forcefully shook his head in response to Prince Ren's comment but continued to raid his dinner platter noisily. He had a few drips of red wine on his white school uniform and streaks of gravy all over his thick lips. His messy way of dining earned him disapproving stares from the rest of the royal bloods.

Prince Ren grew red in embarrassment. "Would you care to show some table manners?" The Kaminari royalty snapped at Chocolove when he tried to speak with his mouth full. "No wonder Lyserg left you alone here."

The prince scanned the dining hall with his eyes for his missing friend. "Where did he go anyway?"

Chocolove swallowed down a big chunk of roasted turkey then answered his friend in an oratorical tone, "Your Highness, while you are busy imploring the elusive Princess of Kouri… Marco came by to fetch our dear friend. It appears that the Duke of Mont St. Michel is dying and is requesting to have a final glimpse of his family and close relatives. This means that for the next three to five days, it's just the two of us."

Prince Ren's face turned sour. He didn't like the sound of that.

"We can make up for the lost time that you were away in Kaminari." Chocolove's eyes sparkled in excitement.

"Go bother someone else!"

"But I've already prepared our 'best-of-friends' list of activities…" his friend pouted.

"I don't have time for your nonsense, you moron!"

"I am always sensible Renny. I just don't look like it."

The prince wanted to tear his hair out in frustration, "Why are you so difficult?"

He was about to make Chocolove swallow a whole dessert plate to shut him up when someone cleared her throat from behind him. He turned around to find the princess of Kouri with an eyebrow raised.

"I'd like to speak to the prince of Kaminari - alone."

The Tao heir folded his arms across his chest and responded without looking at her, "If the princess of Kouri wishes to speak with me, she should sit down first and wait for me to finish eating."

"My time is more precious than the Prince of Kaminari's lunch. If he doesn't want to converse in 10 seconds, I will retire to my room," Princess Pirika started her count down.

Prince Ren breathed deeply as he tried to control his temper. "Chocolove, I see you're finish dining here. Why don't you go and rest already?"

"But Renny I'm not done with this apple yet."

The prince shot him a murderous look.

"Alright, alright. I'll eat this in my room," Chocolove stood up and left the table immediately. Pirika sat on the chair that he vacated.

"So what had finally made the princess of Kouri talk to me?" Ren sipped from his goblet of red wine.

"Look, all I want is for the homework to be done already that's why I have come to make an arrangement with you. Since we can't stand each other's existence -"

"Oh, I think you're referring to your predicament only. I am very much fine with you around not that your existence matters to me."

"Do you want this done or what?" Pirika gritted her teeth. She was becoming red with fury.

Ren closed his eyes and swallowed his pride. He didn't want to waste this opportunity anymore. "Sorry, go on."

"We can meet every day until the end of the week for about 30 minutes at most to discuss the homework."

"Where and what time?"

"At the balcony near the girls' dormitory. 5PM sharp. Don't be late. I won't be wasting my time waiting for you." Pirika stood up and marched away from the table.

"Oh you don't really need to waste your time on me. I have a fiancée you know."

The princess rolled her eyes. "Don't be obnoxious. It's not that I like you."

* * *

**At the Duke of** **Mont St. Michel's mansion**

King Mikihisa immediately alighted from the carriage as soon as the vehicle had come to a full stop. Tamao, his niece, scurried after him trying hard not to trip on her dress. They took the fastest ship from Kasai to Mont St. Michel in order to reach the dying duke before he breathed his last.

Marco, the butler and the duke's right hand man welcomed him by the door, "Your Highness, we're sorry if we cannot greet you with pleasantries today. The duke is seriously ill."

"No need to apologize, Marco. I know the situation well enough. I'll go and see Francois."

"Right this way sire. He is waiting inside."

The butler led the guests to the duke's chamber. There were two maids in waiting who each wore a worried expression. An elderly physician was examining the duke but the look on his face told them there was no hope left. Life was draining from him. The duke's only daughter was sitting on a stool by his side holding his cold hand. She was trying to control her tears from falling. Behind her stood Duke Liam Diethel of Morphia and his son - a young man of the same age as the king of Kasai's children. He had placed his hand on his cousin's shoulder as a way to comfort her.

"My friend Mikihisa…" the dying duke beckoned for his royal visitor to come closer the moment he spotted him by the door.

King Mikihisa knelt down by the bedside. "It's been a long time Francois." He didn't recognize his friend for the disease had shriveled up his body and taken away the light in his eyes.

"I'm glad to see you before I go…" the duke said weakly.

"There's so many things for which I'm grateful to you. I'm sorry I didn't get to say this personally when you're still well but thank you for taking care of my son and for supporting my endeavors even if some of them were impossible to do."

"It is my pleasure to come to the aid of a needy friend…"

The duke's daughter let go of her father's hand so that the king can hold it, "I promise you that your only child will be in good hands. You need not worry. We will take care of her."

The dying patient smiled then reached out to touch his daughter's tear-stained cheeks. "Your mother and I will always be watching you. Be a good girl, Jeanne…"

And those were the duke's last words.

* * *

**At a balcony near the Royal Patch Academy's dormitory for girls...**

Prince Ren cursed under his breath. It had been 20 minutes past their agreed meeting time but the princess of Kouri still hadn't shown up. Now they only had a few minutes left to do their homework. He was about to stand up from his seat when he heard hurried footsteps rushing towards the balcony where he was staying.

"I'm really sorry. My father came to the academy so I had to meet him," the princess bowed down apologetically.

"Still being regularly visited by your father? When would you learn to grow up?" Ren snorted.

Pirika clenched her fists but she kept them by her side. She was at fault this time so she had no right to be angry. "Well, he had some business near the academy that's why he's a regular visitor. Besides, a close friend is currently in Mont St. Michel and may drop by the academy to see me."

_Why am I explaining myself to him?_

Pirika settled herself on the empty seat across the prince. She was truly sorry for being tardy but he had no right to tell her how to live her life. They weren't even friends. She scowled at him but he seemed to be preoccupied with his own thoughts.

_Mont St. Michel? That's where Jeanne lives. They're friends with this kind of people? How come she didn't tell me?_ Ren wondered to himself.

"Let's get started shall we?" the princess of Kouri took out a notebook and a pen. "We only have 10 minutes left…"

Prince Ren folded his arms, "I don't feel like doing homework anymore."

"What?! I ran all the way from the receiving area for nothing?"

"Now whose fault was it that half of our allotted time was wasted?"

"Argh, you are hopeless!" Pirika stood up and gathered her things.

"Wait," Ren grabbed her hand before she could go. "I didn't say I didn't want to talk to you."

The princess slightly blushed.

"Okay, but please let go of my hand."

"Oh, right."

The princess slowly sat down, "So what do you want to talk about?"

"Some random things…" the Kaminari heir acted bored but his eyes showed otherwise. "For each question I ask, you can ask me one in return. We can take turns. Fair enough?"

Pirika nodded. "Throw me one now."

"Is your close friend from Mont St. Michel?"

"No. My turn..." the Kouri princess quickly opened her notebook to a blank page. "How would you describe Kaminari's trading policy?"

"Open to trade with anyone anywhere except your side of the land."

The princess scoffed at his response as she wrote the words down.

"So where is your friend from?" the Tao royal blood asked with great curiosity.

"She's from Kasai."

The prince gave her a startled look.

"Why would she be in Mont St. Michel?"

"Hey, isn't it my turn to ask already?" Pirika folded her arms across her chest. She had never seen the prince looked at her with keen interest so she eventually gave in. "Oh alright... She just accompanied her uncle, the king of Kasai there."

This time the prince furrowed his brow.

"Why would the king of Kasai be in Mont St. Michel?"

"Well the duke is dying. They came to see him before he pass away."

_I know that already._

Prince Ren was exasperated. It was the very same reason for Lyserg's absence.

_Why does the king of Kasai have to be there? unless_ …

"I presume they are friends?" he asked for confirmation from his companion.

"Yes, very good friends. They even arranged their children's marriages."

"What?!"

"Didn't you know? Didn't your friends tell you?"

"I wouldn't be asking if they did," Ren seemed annoyed.

_What's the point of hiding it to me?_

He had been friends with Jeanne and Lyserg for three years yet they did not bother to tell him the truth. Well, maybe they tried but the Ren back then was too close-minded.

"Jeanne is engaged to one of Kasai's twin princes." Pirika continued.

"Wait... Kasai has twin princes?!"

"Yes, it's not so unusual you know."

Ren slapped his forehead, "And I told Anna that the Kasai heir is a two-headed monster.

Pirika laughed. "Well Yoh is nice but the other one… maybe he ought to be called a monster since he's really mean. By the way, who is Anna?

"She's my fiancée."

"Oh."

When he said he had one earlier, she thought he had just conjured an imaginary girl as a comeback.

_Of course he has one._

She remembered how it was a common practice among royal bloods. Her father who believed that his children should marry whoever they want, might be the only exception. He would often tell them that he married their mother out of true love. Apparently, it didn't work for him because his wife left them when they were very young. Perhaps things would have been better had he settled with an arranged marriage but who would want to be allied with a poor kingdom such as Kouri? It was still a mystery to her how her father was able to pay for the expensive tuition in the academy.

"Is she in Kaminari or in Kouku?" She asked with great curiosity. She can't imagine how someone could put up with the high and mighty Tao prince.

Ren stared at the setting sun, "I don't even know…"

* * *

**At** **the library of** **the late Duke of Mont St. Michel...**

Except for the maids and the physician, all the persons who stood by the duke's deathbed earlier had gathered inside the mansion's library. Duke Liam, the brother-in-law of the deceased nobleman, presided over the solemn meeting. He held the last will and testament of the Duke of Mont St. Michel in his hands.

Duke Liam cleared his throat and started reading slowly, "I, Francois St. Michel give the entire land of Mont St. Michel to my only daughter, Jeanne St. Michel. Her leadership of the dukedom will take effect on her wedding day. Until that time, my faithful butler and trusted right-hand man, Marco Lasso will take care of all matters concerning the governance of Mont St. Michel and will serve as my only child's legal guardian."

"What do you say, Marco?" King Mikihisa asked.

"I am more than willing to accept the responsibility of taking care of Lady Jeanne," the serious butler fixed his glasses. However, I don't think I can manage the dukedom at the same time."

"Hmm… If that's the case, perhaps Lady Jeanne should marry immediately so that she can attend to the affairs of her land?" Duke Liam suggested.

The girl whose eyes were swollen from crying gasped and turned to her cousin for support.

"Father! You don't have the right to decide for Jeanne without her consent," Lyserg shot his old man a stern look.

"I was kidding around, my son. You don't need to be uptight about it," the duke scratched his head.

"I agree with the girly looking lad," a voice said from the back of the room. "You do NOT have any right to decide on our future."

_Who is he calling girly?_

Lyserg stared menacingly at the long-haired young man who appeared from nowhere. He was casually leaning on the bookshelf with a sneer on his face.

"You! How come you didn't show up earlier? The duke had been asking for you since morning." Marco lost his usual cool demeanor and spat furiously at the unwanted guest.

"I fell asleep on the roof. I just overheard you talking about the duke's last will and testament from up there. You shouldn't leave windows open when you're discussing private matters."

"If you do not have anything important to say, just leave this room NOW!" the butler pointed towards the door. His blood always boiled at the mere sight of the boy's face ever since he came to Mont St. Michel.

"I don't think it's appropriate to act like that Marco especially when King Mikihisa is around," Duke Liam said nervously. The king of Kasai didn't budge in his seat. Despite his bird mask, everybody in the room knew that he was intently watching the young man before him.

The butler bowed down apologetically before the king, "Pardon me Your Majesty. I got carried away. He has not yet learned how to respect other people. I had failed in this task."

"That's the very reason why you can't handle Mont St. Michel. You are not competent enough," the young man smirked at him.

The butler restrained himself from attacking the arrogant bastard. "So are you saying that you are more capable of governing over Mont St. Michel? Don't be so high and mighty. You have not wedded Lady Jeanne yet."

"On the contrary, I wish to break my engagement with Jeanne," announced the young man to the surprise of all the occupants of the room.

This time it was Lyserg who reacted vehemently, "What an insensitive person you are! Do not leave Jeanne when she's at her worst. Her father just died!"

"Why? I am sure she's far better off without me. Did you ask her first how she feels about the whole arranged marriage?"

Jeanne lowered her head. He was right. She didn't like it since the day it was decreed. Her father just died so the terms of the arranged marriage could be reviewed by the two parties again. King Mikihisa's presence would allow her to make the decision to end it right then and there.

"This is not about you, Jeanne," the young man addressed his soon-to-be ex-fiance a-matter-of-factly. I just don't think this would work out. I know we both share the same sentiments."

He then turned towards the king of Kasai who was quietly observing him from his seat, "Well hello, King Miki. It's been 7 years already. Has the scar healed well? I hope you still remember the son you've thrown away."

"Hao…"


	10. The Crossed Daggers

Princess Pirika folded her arms and stared at the Kaminari prince in disbelief. "What do you mean you don't even know? She's your fiancée."

"Can we talk about other things instead of my personal life?" Prince Ren furrowed his brows. He wanted to slap himself for uttering such words. It was not his intention to let an enemy find out about their current situation. His father had always told him to never let his guard down. Kasai and Kouri might devise a plan to attack Kouku while the heiress to the throne, his soon-to-be-wife is missing.

The girl from the other side of the table peered at him curiously. She was positive that he was keeping something from her. "I bet she ran away because she didn't want to marry you," she teased.

"Even if she did, it's none of your business. Why are you so interested anyway?" It was the prince's turn to do the teasing. His attempt to stop her further inquisition was successful for the princess had shut her mouth and suddenly turned bright red.

Prince Ren rested his chin on the palm of his hand and gazed at her with an amused look which made the princess blushed even more. She became speechless for a few minutes trying to think of a better retort. The prince tapped his fingers on the table as he waited for his companion to snap back at him.

"I am just curious as to what kind of woman would actually agree to marry such a brute like you," the blue-haired princess stuck out her tongue. The young man only saw this as an attempt to mask her embarrassment.

"She's a fine woman unlike some OTHER girl I know," the Tao heir sneered at her. "You should go to OUR wedding day if you are so interested to see her."

"Are you out of your mind? I'd lose my head if I were to attend your wedding. In fact," the princess let out a sigh, "I would lose my head just talking to you."

"Oh, right…" Prince Ren nearly forgot that their kingdoms were enemies back home. "If you're bothered by this, the four kingdoms' treaty does not apply overseas. The Royal Patch Academy is a neutral territory so it's safe for us to converse here. You don't need to worry at all."

"Hmph, I hate that age-old treaty. It's giving us a false sense of peace. Don't you think so?"

The Tao heir nodded. For once, the two of them had agreed on something.

"You know what? Ever since I was a child, I often wondered what Kouku and Kaminari look like," the princess gazed at the darkening horizon. "Have you ever wished to see Kasai and Kouri with your own eyes?"

The prince remembered his fiancée also asking him the same question. "Of course, I have. I was just as curious as you."

"How I longed for the time that we can roam around each other's kingdoms and see both the good and bad side of it with our own eyes." Pirika said dreamily. It was such a pleasant thought to have. She won't probably experience it in her lifetime though.

Ren smiled, "Perhaps I can tickle your imagination. I can tell you stories about Kouku and Kaminari if you wanted me to."

"Really? Would it be okay for you to convey information to an enemy?"

"I'm not giving you information, Princess. I am just sharing my experiences. But there is one condition though…."

"What is it this time?" the Kouri royalty looked at him with suspicion.

"I'll talk only if you would tell me about Kasai and Kouri, too."

* * *

**Infront of Mosuke's abandoned house...**

Amidamaru gazed at the deserted hut which had once been the center of metal craftsmanship in Kouku's central town. He had visited this place every time he was sent on a spy mission. He continued to drop by even if the master of the house would no longer come out to greet him. The Kasai warrior felt a pang in his heart as his friend's passing sunk in little by little.

_I will avenge your death, Mosuke._

The Kasai swordsman swore by the Harusame. Personal revenge was a violation in the warrior's code of conduct but he would break his own rules to get to the bottom of it all. It was such a coincidence for his dear friend to die on the same night as the Kouku royal family. Something didn't seem quite right. He could feel it in his guts. However, he would have to do his own investigation on the side. His main mission here was to gather intel for King Mikihisa on what the new ruler's next steps would be.

"You are here again young man," greeted the blacksmith's elderly neighbor.

"Yes, I was just reminiscing those days when Mosuke's still alive."

"You must have been a really good friend of his," the old man observed.

"Are they going to tear down this place?"

"Yes, it is considered unlucky to leave the house of a murdered man standing. He had no relatives to inherit it anyway."

"His precious work place would be turned into rubble. Why are traditions like that?" the Kasai warrior lamented.

"In order for us to move forward, we must let go of everything that's making us stay in the past. Would you rather keep this as a reminder of his ill-fate?"

Amidamaru grew silent. The house meant a lot to Mosuke but he couldn't hold on to it even if he wanted to. He was an outsider, a spy for the enemy even. There's no way he could acquire the property for himself.

The elderly neighbor must have read his mind. "Well, if you really want something to remind you of your friend, you can take those." He pointed at the pair of silver crossed daggers hanging by the wooden front door. "They look ancient but they are very important artifacts. Mosuke's family belongs to a clan of skillful blacksmiths. Did you know that those daggers had been a gift to his ancestor by the king of Kasai during early times?"

"Oh," the Kasai warrior was taken aback. Only the descendants of the people who had been serving the Kasai royal family for generations knew about this household secret. This tale was a piece of Kasai's unwritten history way back before the reign of the Douji and Asakura clans. He had been telling this story to the prince ever since he was young.

"Perhaps that was during those peaceful times when the four kingdoms were not at war with each other. Did Mosuke tell you about it?" he asked.

The old man shook his head. "A young man told me. Come to think of it, he was Mosuke's last customer before he died."

* * *

**At the Kasai palace training grounds...**

Anna enjoyed the warm sunlight kissing her skin. Lying down on the green carpet of grass surely felt good. Who would have thought that doing nothing and marveling at the clear blue sky above her would be so reinvigorating? She looked at the Kasai prince who was lying down on the grass beside her from the corner of her eye. He was repeatedly throwing the Asakura family's heirloom and catching it in one hand.

"Stop throwing it up into the air, Yoh! If you lose that don't expect me to help you find it," the blond girl scolded him.

"Oh, sorry Anna…" Yoh sat up to put it inside the pocket of his trousers.

His personal maid instantly grabbed the brooch from him and pin it on his dress shirt. "You should always wear this, Your Sloppy Highness. Didn't Amidamaru tell you that this little piece of metal here is the symbol of Kasai's next heir? Wear it proud."

"I'm sorry… I won't play with it anymore…" the prince plunged himself into the soft grass once again.

"Oh stop saying sorry most of the time, Yoh," the blond girl was exasperated. "Anyway, is it really alright to just lie down here and do nothing?" Anna turned to her side to face the prince. She felt a tinge of guilt for neglecting her duties as palace maid. "Your father would surely fire me if he finds out I've been joining his lazy son in his unproductive activities."

"We're not idling around, Anna. We are just relaxing for a bit. We could continue our tutoring sessions afterwards," the prince grinned at her. He then noticed the metallic chain hanging around the girl's neck.

Anna thought she would have a heart attack when he reached out to touch her neck. The Kasai heir pulled the jewelry out so he could see the three-rose pendant he gave her. "I'm glad you are still wearing this."

The blond girl felt her cheeks heat up. She just realized how physically close she was to the prince. She tugged the necklace from his loose grip and hid the pendant under her blouse. "Well, it was of cheap material anyway. The other palace maids wouldn't possibly think that I've stolen this from your family so it's alright to wear it."

"Now I'm a bit ashamed. If this was ever written down in history then the very first gift given by the king of Kasai to the queen of Kouku as a token of their friendship is a cheap pendant. Maybe I should ask Mosuke to forge you a silver necklace…."

"Who is Mosuke?" Anna asked.

"You don't know him? I thought he was famous in Kouku?"

"You are speaking to a princess who was never let out of the palace grounds," the blond girl reminded him.

"He is no other than the most skillful blacksmith in your kingdom."

* * *

_Flashback…_

_Yoh stood in awe in front of a hut where clanking and pounding of metal could be heard inside. This must be the place that his warrior friend had been talking about. He had been meaning to go there since they had arrived in Kouku.  
_

_"You sure are an early customer of Mosuke's," an old man in a cane approached him slowly._

_"Good morning Grandpa! Mosuke is an early worker, too."_

_"Why don't you see him then? I believe you have been standing there for a few minutes already."_

_"I will but I'm just marveling at those artifacts," Yoh pointed at the crossed daggers hanging from the door. "Did you know that those had been a gift to Mosuke's ancestors by the king of Kasai during early times?"_

_"Oh? I did not know that," the old man scratched his chin slowly._

_"They say that when the four kingdoms were still in good terms, the king of Kasai requested Mosuke's ancestor to forge him a piece of jewelry which he would pass down to his heir. The blacksmith worked hard for several days and nights in order to produce the king's request. When it was finished, the Kasai monarch was so delighted to receive such a perfect piece of jewelry that he rewarded the blacksmith with two silver daggers. Mosuke's ancestor forged the gifted weapons in such a way that they would cross each other as a symbol of the two kingdoms' unity."_

_"Such a beautiful story..." The old man uttered. "But alas, the friendship of the two kingdoms was not as sturdy as the two crossed daggers."_

* * *

"So have you met him during one of your missions?" the blond girl asked. She felt a bit embarrassed to have not even known about this famous Kouku blacksmith. She made a mental note to herself to visit this person as soon as she comes back to her kingdom.

The prince scratched his head as if he had remembered a humiliating incident, "Well, yes. He was a bit unfriendly and too serious about his work. He did not talk much. But I told him that I know Amidamaru and he lightened up a bit."

"Mosuke is Amidamaru's friend?!" Anna couldn't fathom how that was even possible. "Isn't being friends with a citizen of Kouku or Kaminari a form of treason in our land?"

"Yes but Amidamaru is a royal spy. He can always reason out that he's just gaining the trust and confidence of a Kouku citizen as part of the mission."

"How very convenient," Anna said sarcastically. "Sometimes I envy spies. They go to different places even dangerous ones and meet new people. I have always been stuck in the palace so I only have a few friends there - my nanny who is already dead and Ren." Not that she needed more anyway. It wasn't also the case now that she had unintentionally ventured into enemy territory and unexpectedly found a new friend there.

"I have a few friends, too but I don't get to see them that often." The prince began to enumerate, "There's Horo-Horo, Faust, Amidamaru, Manta, Ryuu, and… Anna. We are friends, right?"

Anna felt that Yoh had been asking her this question several times already. It's either he wasn't convinced of her answer or he just found pleasure in hearing her say it to him. "Of course. What will your alibi be if you get caught being friends with an enemy?"

"Hmmm.. I've never thought about it," Prince Yoh scratched his cheek.

"It is so just you, Yoh," Anna rolled her eyes. "Like I said before, you should just deny it and tell everyone you don't know me. That would make things simpler AND you would definitely avoid the gallows." It would bother her conscience for the rest of her life if he were to die because of her.

"I won't do that. It would be a form of betrayal to you. I promise, Anna, no matter what happens I'll never stop being friends with you," the prince assured her, "…even if we are rivers apart."

They gazed at each other for a few minutes before staring up at the sky again to break off the eye contact. They both hid a slight blush forming across their cheeks. While Yoh busied himself counting the birds that flew by, Anna contemplated on their recent conversation. If she were to be questioned about her ties with the Asakura prince, she would... probably not deny him also.

_Oh crap. This idiot's foolishness is rubbing off on me._

The best course of action was really for her to return home before anybody finds out. For now, she would just enjoy these fleeting moments of liberty.


	11. The Other Kasai Prince

Kanna irritably threw the old scrub she was using to clean the dirty kitchen floor into the pail of murky water. The impact had caused several drops of cold water to splatter on her face but not even those could cool her temper. She had so many chores to do that morning but she had to stop for a moment because the head palace servant had called for an assembly by the front doors. Apparently the king had returned from his short trip and they had to welcome him back with warm greetings.

She was sick of it all. She hated this monotonous impoverished life. It had not always been this way. She was born into an affluent family of traders from the kingdom of Kouri and had enjoyed a privileged childhood. However, her whole world was shattered when her parents died of an accident at sea and left their business bankrupt. She had to sell their mansion, their family's only remaining asset to pay off the loans to her relatives. They refused to assist her financially or even take her in. She was abandoned and was totally on her own. She lost everything at the age of 18.

To save face, she immediately left the kingdom of Kouri. She wanted to be far away from all the hurt and humiliation. She wanted a new life in Kasai but it was not easy to start one. She waited tables in rowdy pubs and cleaned smelly animal barns in exchange for free lodging and meals. She would cry every night out of pity for herself. She was not used to this kind of life. She was never brought up to be someone else's servant. She had never touched a scrub, a rug or a feather duster not even out of curiosity before.

Her depression got the better of her so one morning she went to a cliff. She was pondering on whether to jump or not when a young boy of about ten years emerged from the bushes on a white horse.

* * *

_Flashback_

" _Are you trying to attempt suicide or just marveling at the deep ravine below?" The long-haired boy looked down at her with a smirk painted on his face._

" _GO away! Little kids should leave adults on their own." Tears started rolling down her cheeks._

" _What's taking you so long then? If you wished to end your pathetic life, do not hesitate on jumping," the boy raised an eyebrow. "That's a very painful way to die though. By the time we find your body, you will be nothing but a lump of bloody mess. Too bad your pretty face will become too unrecognizable for people to give you the credit you deserve during your funeral."_

" _People treat me as trash. No one would attend my funeral anyway." She moved a step closer to the edge of the cliff._

" _You're such a wreck. Do what you want. I'm going now." the young boy motioned his horse to turn around. "But before I go, I'm giving you another option. You can choose to jump and die instantly or_ _you can choose to live and follow me. I can make people who have hurt you miserable."_

_"Huh! What can such a young boy like you do?"_

_"In case you don't know me, I am the heir to the Kasai throne. You can postpone your death and meet me on this very spot next week. If you're not convinced with what I can do, you can jump off the cliff. I'll even push you to your death if you ask me to. But first, I believe we have not been introduced?"_

_"I am Kanna… Kanna Bismarch."_

_"One of the Bismarchs of Kouri kingdom? How interesting. See you after a week then, Kanna."_

_Kanna walked away from the cliff feeling stupid after the boy left. She couldn't believe that she had actually listened to a ten-year old. Perhaps she didn't have the courage to take her own life after all. Perhaps the arrogant boy who claimed to be the heir of Kasai gave her a renewed spirit. He reminded her so much of herself when she was a child. She was really a strong woman and her family's tragedy should not make her drop down to her knees in despair._

_Six days after the meeting, news of a fire that had ravaged the Bismarch mansion spread across the kingdom. The whole structure and all its new occupants were burned down to ashes. The cause of the fire was unknown but two explosions were said to be heard from each wing of the mansion. The following day Kanna hurried to the cliff and found the boy waiting for her there with his horse._

* * *

The next thing she knew she had become the personal maid to the future king of Kasai but her happiness was only short-lived. The prince had been sent away by his father and the right to the throne was granted to his weakling twin brother. It's been seven years since he was gone and she missed him so badly. She was miserable again but she would opt to feel miserable inside the palace while she waited for the return of her prince.

Kanna took her usual position between her friends, Marion and Matilda among the palace servants. She noticed the gap in the front row and her blood boiled with jealousy. The blond girl called Anna was missing from the line-up again. It was one of the privileges of being a personal maid to the new heir of Kasai. Her duty was to always accompany the prince so she was not prompted to leave him for other tasks. Besides the King of Kasai always went on foreign trips that he no longer required the presence of his family to welcome him back.

* * *

_I wonder where everybody is…_

Anna went down to the usually busy kitchen to bring the prince's empty breakfast tray only to find the place deserted. The soap on the dishes had already dried, the potatoes and carrots for today's lunch soup were half-peeled, and a bucket of dirty water was left lying on the floor. If the head palace maid could see the place now, someone would surely receive severe spanking and scolding from her. The blond girl decided to leave the premises immediately before the head servant arrive and blame her for the chaos in the kitchen.

As she was climbing up the stairs, she remembered that the king was to arrive that morning from his trip abroad. This could be the main reason why she did not see a single servant around the palace. That would also mean Prince's Yoh's lovestruck fiancée, Tamao would be back to spy on them as if she was stealing her future husband-to-be from her. Anna decided that she had better peel the lazy prince off the bed in time for the arrival of his father and fiancée.

The palace servants bowed down as soon as King Mikihisa entered through the main doors followed by his exhausted pink-haired niece. Tamao brightened up upon seeing her fiancé slowly approaching the group but her smile quickly faded when she spotted his blond personal maid promenading behind him. To the very observant eye, it was more like Prince Yoh reluctantly walking to join the welcoming crowd while Anna pushed him to go faster.

"Welcome back father," Yoh gave out a timid smile.

"Oof!" The prince tried to untangle himself from the pink-haired girl's tight embrace. "Hello Tamao…"

"I missed you Yoh! I hope you didn't do anything to make me feel bad while I was away," Tamao shot an irritated look at the blond girl. She finally let go of her grip on Yoh when she spotted the queen and the former rulers of Kasai drawing near.

"Welcome home Darling," Queen Keiko sashayed towards her husband to give him a sweet kiss on the lips.

"It's good to see my family complete again," King Mikihisa seemed elated. He did not expect that he would be greeted by the whole Asakura family upon his return. After all, he was just away for a couple of days. He needed some form of positive energy especially after attending an emotionally draining activity such as a funeral. "It will be more complete once I show you who returned to the kingdom with me."

As if on cue, the carriage doors flew open and a smirking young man of seventeen years alighted from the vehicle. He had a pompous air about him and his long hair swayed with the breeze. Kanna couldn't hide her delight. Her prince had finally returned.

* * *

**In the Royal Patch Academy's dining hall...**

Chocolove rested his chin on his hand and ate his evening meal with a bored expression. His best buddy Ren was ignoring him the whole time and was busy chatting with his new found friend, the princess of Kouri. They became really close because of their _Society of Royals_ homework to the point that Prince Ren had invited Princess Pirika to their favorite dining table. It seemed that they had shared enough stories to write into several pages of essay already.

Chocolove sighed. He couldn't wait for his other best friend Lyserg to come back to school again. At least somebody would talk to him even if the conversation would turn out to be an entire derision of his comic personality (or oddity according to Ren). He couldn't wait for Lyserg's cousin, Jeanne to appear by the table again. Her seat was currently taken by the bubbly princess of Kouri. If Jeanne were there, he would have an inspiration not to mention a very good view as he gobbled up his dessert of chocolate truffles. Chocolove thought it's really unfair that Ren always got the attention of good-looking girls in the academy. On the other hand, maybe it was better that way knowing how the Kaminari prince had recently lost the love of his life.

It was good for Ren to make friends with Pirika but what Chocolove couldn't fathom was how easily the two forgot about the institutionalized hatred between their kingdoms. The Tao heir, in particular, would consistently voice out his suspicions on their neighbors from the other side of the Great Spirit's river. Apparently, it would only take a few days for Ren to leave his speculations in the past and make friends with the enemy.

_How very ironic if Ren would fall for the talkative Pirika_.

Chocolove thought. But that would complicate matters because of Lyserg's feelings for the girl which Ren didn't know about. And then there were Jeanne's feelings for Ren, too although she won't admit it to her cousin or to him. Chocolove grabbed his hair in frustration. He was starting to feel the pressure of being loveless. He must quickly find a girl of his own so that he won't get stuck in the middle trying to fix whatever broken relationship would result from all of these nonsense.

"Acting funny again Chocolove? What's wrong with you?" A familiar voice asked from behind him.

"This is nothing, Lyserg... I'm just eating so much chocolate truffles, they are hurting my head." After pausing for a minute and realizing who he was talking to, Chocolove shot up from his seat with glee. "Lyserg! Jeanne! I'm so happy to see you both! Renny is being a meanie!"

The pair sitting across him also stood up to greet the two cousins.

"My deep condolences Jeanne…" Ren took the girl's hand and squeezed it hard.

"I heard from Lyserg about your loss, too. I'm sorry about what happened to your fiancée," Jeanne responded with a pat on the Kaminari prince's shoulder.

"Condolence Jeanne…" Pirika lowered her eyes. That was the first time she had talked to the elegant Duchess of Mont St. Michel.

After giving Ren a confused look, Lyserg greeted the Kouri princess with a friendly smile.

_It's good to see you, Pirika._

It was what he wanted to say but "Pirika… you're here.." were the words that came out of his mouth. Lyserg wanted to slap his forehead. He was usually eloquent with words but when it came to her, he was speechless.

"Oh.. I'm just discussing homework with Ren. I'm sorry for intruding your table… Maybe I should go now…" Pirika took her books from the chair beside her.

_No, don't go. It's okay for you to stay here_.

But Lyserg only let out an inaudible whisper.

"Thanks for the stories, Ren. Maybe we could continue tomorrow?" The princess of Kouri smiled at him.

"Sure, I'll see you after classes, same time, same place," Prince Ren waved at her.

"Why are you giving me that suspicious look, Lyserg?" the Kaminari prince asked his friend as soon as Pirika left the dining hall.

"Nothing. It seemed a lot of things had transpired in here while I was away. Would you care to orient me?"

"Amm… do you want some chocolate truffles?" Chocolove shoved the plate in between the two.

_This is going to be difficult_.

* * *

**At the Kasai palace lobby...**

"Hao, my son!" Queen Keiko wept as she embraced her other child whom she had not seen for seven years. The young man stood still and did not return her embrace. The queen lovingly touched her son's face. "You look so much like -"

"Yes, I know. I looked like my twin brother but I'm smarter and a hundred of times more appealing."

Anna rolled her eyes. She had never known anyone as conceited as the other Kasai prince. He was ten times more arrogant than Ren. Besides the length of hair, Hao and Yoh were physically identical yet their personalities were totally on the opposite sides of the coin.

"Prince Hao will not be going back to the Dukedom of Mont St. Michel. He's staying here with us for good," King Mikihisa announced to the crowd.

"Welcome home, brother!" Yoh grinned at him but his twin gave him no response. Hao's gaze was apparently fixed on the blond girl dressed in a palace servant's uniform behind him.

"And who might you be?" the other Kasai prince approached her with keen interest.

"She is Anna," Yoh introduced his personal maid. "She is -"

"…not from here," Hao eyed her from top to bottom.

"Er…" his twin brother began to panic but the quick-thinking Anna responded, "Yes, I'm new here, dear prince. I'm one of those people you haven't seen before you left as a child. I would perfectly understand if you won't consider me as someone who belongs here."

"Of course, of course. I'm sorry for being rude. Shall we introduce ourselves? What's your name?"

"Anna."

"And your last name?"

"I have… no last name. Everybody just calls me Anna."

"Brother, Anna is Amidamaru's distant relative. Amidamaru doesn't have a last name, too. I think it's part of their family tradition not to use last names," Yoh laughed nervously.

"You know Yoh, I did not expect you to make a statement that makes any sense but that last one did. Anyway, hello Anna, I am Hao Asakura." The long-haired twin offered his hand.

Anna reluctantly shook it but Hao did not let go of her hand at once so she had to forcefully pull it from his grip.

"For a palace maid Anna, you got soft hands."

"She was never really a servant before," Prince Yoh tried to explain. "Her former job was that of a governess. She is tutoring me right now about what I need to know about our kingdom."

"Oh.." his twin's lips spread out into a smile. "Maybe you could also teach me. I have been away for seven years I don't know anything about Kasai."

_Liar!_

Anna fumed with rage. She's beginning to hate Yoh's twin brother even more.

"What do you say King Miki?" Hao addressed his father casually.

"I think that's a good idea," the king of Kasai scratched his chin. "Anna, you can start tutoring Hao tomorrow after you're done with Yoh."

The blond girl wanted to melt away into nothingness.


	12. The Heir's Insignia

Anna fixed her eyes on the person across the table. She and her new student had engaged in a staring contest ever since their tutoring session had begun. This game had already evolved into a muted scream of curses and violent visualizations of murder and torture - at least in her mind. She didn't have the slightest clue what her companion was contemplating at that moment or if he was even participating in this silent war. Prince Hao just kept on looking at her with keen interest as if she was some kind of freshly caught insect trying to flee from its glass prison. She wanted so much to punch him squarely on the face to erase his annoying smirk but she was determined to win this staring game.

"So…" Prince Hao finally broke the silence before her temper goes out of control. "… you know a lot about Kasai?"

"Yes," she answered calmly despite the fact that the prince seemed to be questioning her credibility as a governess.

_So much as if I was born in here._

Reading thick volumes of books about Kasai and listening to Yoh's adventures had taught her a lot about this foreign kingdom. Perhaps she knew about Kasai more than Kouku now. A thought that she would rather not entertain for it implied that she's becoming comfortable with this kingdom.

"Okay, it seemed like it," Prince Hao did not look convinced but did not dwell on the matter any further. "I was just wondering… How did you and my brother meet?"

"We met in Chikyuu… " Anna recalled her supposed-to-be hometown.

"Ahh… the town near the border - a small bucolic town with agriculture as its main industry," the prince scoffed. "It was once a flourishing town hundreds of years ago when trading between the four kingdoms was still open. In fact, most of this kingdom's rich clans originated from Chikyuu but had to leave and transfer to other parts of Kasai when the war broke out. After the peace treaty was signed that town's economy crumbled and only the poor farmers remained to plow dirt. Oh pardon me for blabbing, I'm sure you know your hometown's unfortunate history."

" _What a liar! Why am I forced to teach this know-it-all?_

The blond girl clenched her fists.

"Kasai had lost half of its wealth and glory ever since the war. This kingdom is too prudent to even enroll its future ruler to the prestigious Royal Patch Academy," Prince Hao snorted.

"Perhaps King Mikihisa has more important projects to fund than send his son to the Academy. I'm certain that Prince Yoh is well-educated and well-trained to be king even if he is being home-schooled," Anna defended her student.

"On the contrary my dear, I'm not talking about him. I'm talking about me. I AM the future king." The other Kasai prince gritted his teeth.

Anna felt the tension between them growing. She had touched a nerve, an unburied history of some one-sided sibling rivalry.

"My brother is not competent enough to raise Kasai to its former pedestal. He is a weakling. He is not of monarchy material."

"Oh Your Highness," the blond girl scowled at her companion, "you are belittling your brother. I am certain he is primed for the job."

"His skills will never match up to mine. He would wet his pants if he were to face the Kaminari prince in the battlefield while I can make him scream like a girl."

_Oh I'm beginning to hate this obnoxious brute even more. Why is he dragging Ren into this?_

"There will be NO war between the four kingdoms so please stop conjuring weird ideas. Besides, Prince Yoh can learn how to hone his skills without difficulty so he can be of the same level as you. No, forget what I said. He would become a BETTER king than YOU because he has true compassion for the people of Kasai something that YOU clearly lack."

"Enough!" Prince Hao slammed the table with his hands.

"If Your Highness wishes me to leave his presence I would gladly do so." Anna collected the books she brought and stood up from her seat.

The other Kasai Prince quickly grabbed her free hand. "Who said you are leaving?" he whispered threateningly.

* * *

**In the Society of Royals classroom...**

"Your Highnesses," the Patch instructor Silva addressed his class of royal bloods with great enthusiasm. "I have read your essays on your partner's kingdoms and they were generally good."

He arranged the papers in an orderly bundle and started to hand them back to their respective owners. Occasional gasps of delight and a few sighs of disappointment resounded within the walls of the classroom.

"Some were so informative and beautifully written that they deserve to be given extra merit," Silva stopped by Prince Ren's seat and smiled at him. "Shall we give a cheerful applause to the Kaminari-Kouri royal pair?"

Princess Pirika smiled at her partner who responded with a thumb up.

"You see, Your Majesties, even enemies can produce something good if they help each other out. By the way, the Friendship Ball is drawing near. I am praying to the Great Spirit for a peaceful celebration. Let's set aside our differences, can you all promise me that?"

"Yes, Master Silva," the class chorused.

"Good. Now today, let us delve into the subject of royal symbols. It is a long-running tradition for royal clans to design a symbol that would represent their family. To name a few, the Tao's have the wheel of balance, the Mont St. Michel's have the iron maiden, the Diethel's have the pendulum, the Asakura's have the six-pointed star, the Usui's have the butterbur leaf while the Kyouyama's have the 1080 bead necklace. Because royal clans have existed for hundreds even thousands of years, these symbols were eventually used to signify the kingdom or dukedom as a whole. Why is a symbol important? There are a lot of reasons actually but I will give you only three. The rest will be an after-school work in the form of an essay."

The whole class groaned but the Patch instructor continued his lecture.

"First, a symbol is a source of power and/or inspiration during war. For whatever reason he has, a king is not always present in the battlefield. Not seeing their leader would lower down the morale of the tired and war-beaten troops. So when a flag displaying their kingdom's symbol is raised up, they are reminded of their cause, their pledge to risk their life for their beloved kingdom. Second, a symbol offers a sense of honor and importance. To a commoner, receiving a letter bearing the symbol of the kingdom thanking him for his efforts is already an act of recognition on the part of the monarchy. Third, it gives a sense of urgency and authenticity. News and public statements become genuine and official when the dry stamp or letter head bears the kingdom's symbol."

"So that means when I receive an execution letter bearing the symbol of our dukedom, then I should fear for my life!" Chocolove exclaimed.

"Yes, but it will be ironic because you will be issuing that letter yourself as the new duke," The corner of Silva's mouth twitched a little.

The whole class laughed. Prince Ren and Lyserg glared at their friend for blurting out nonsensical things.

"But sometimes it isn't enough to consider a letter with the kingdom's symbol printed, stamped or dry sealed on it as coming from the palace. There are a lot of crooks who are expert forgers out there," Lyserg pointed out.

"Well-said, Lyserg. That is why in some kingdoms, a special symbol is created to represent the king or the heir to the throne. This symbol is used by monarchs to exchange important and highly confidential messages to each other. The letters are usually delivered by hand and only by the king's trusted messenger."

"Ohh… so that's why my father dry seals his letter with a wolf symbol whenever he sends a message to me," the Kouri royal thought out loud.

"I don't think it is right for you to divulge that information, Princess Pirika…" Silva scratched his head.

* * *

**At the other Kasai prince's room...**

Prince Hao narrowed the gap between them so that his face was dangerously close to hers. "My dear Anna, why do you care for my brother so much? If he becomes king, you would return to the filthy place where you came from. Tamao would ensure that. But if I would become king, I can make you my queen. We can rule Kasai together. Isn't that a happier thought?"

"For someone like you who thinks highly of himself, I didn't expect you to settle with a palace maid for his wife," the blond girl tried to pull away from the prince's grip but he squeezed her frail arm even more.

"How queer that you do not act like a servant, Anna. You are just like me. So high and mighty that I'm beginning to think that you are some spoiled princess from another kingdom."

"I am a proud governess after all."

"That's why I like you. You are different from my ex-fiancée who's too refined she bored me to death. Not to mention she always talks about the prince of Kaminari, that bastard friend of hers for three years at the Royal Patch Academy."

"Oh so that is what this is all about." The blond girl smirked. "Don't vent out your jealousy issues on me."

"No, I'm not jealous. In fact I let her go. She's not worthy of my time. I just pity the Kaminari prince's fiancée if ever he had one. Could you imagine how lonely she had been while he was far away flirting with another girl? Perhaps in her loneliness, the fiancée ran away and found another prince. But it's too late. She had already fallen for him when she found out that the prince was set to marry another woman. It's a tragic story, isn't it?"

Anna did not respond.

"Maybe she would meet a better prince... " Prince Hao took this opportunity to lower his lips on hers. But before he could touch them with his own, there came a heavy thud followed by a tremendous pain on his right foot.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I accidentally dropped these." Anna gathered her hardbound weapons on the floor while hiding her smirk. "Your Highness, if I may give an unsolicited advice to the Kaminari prince's fiancée, I'd tell her to go back home before she meets a despicable pervert like you. By the way this is for trying to kiss me." She slapped him hard with her left hand such that his long silky hair swayed with the impact.

The blond girl stomped her way out of the room.

Prince Hao chuckled after he was left alone with an aching foot and a stinging cheek. "You are quite an interesting woman, Anna."

* * *

**In front of the former Kouku king and queen's chamber...**

She was the newest chambermaid in the Kouku palace. This was probably the reason why she was bullied into doing the one thing the rest of the palace servants had dreaded. After all, cleaning the monarchs' blood-soaked room was not an easy undertaking. She wanted to give her co-workers the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps this task was just too difficult and too emotional for them to handle as it would evoke the gruesome events that took place during the night of the murder.

Her heart raced as she went near the closed door. Bloody pieces of wood protruded from a hole where the pointed weapon went through. They said that the murdered king was impaled on this very door. He was pierced so deep that it left a gaping hole in his chest when the weapon was pulled out from him.

Amidst the foul stench coming from inside the room, she stopped herself from vomiting and slowly pushed the door open.

She was terrified at the scene that unfolded. She wanted to back out, to run downstairs and cry in the servants' quarters but her job was at stake. Her mother would be disappointed if she quit serving the _Kyouyama_ household for their family was a line of trusted palace servants. Only now there were no _Kyouyama_ 's anymore.

The room reeked of death. The floor was painted with blood that already congealed. Only the bodies and weapons were taken out but the chamber and all its paraphernalia and furniture were left untouched ever since the murder. It had been the new king's order not to move and remove anything from the scene of the crime until the investigation was finished. Apparently, King Tori had given up on his search for justice and she, as an initiation rite to her servanthood, was given license to put the place in order.

Tears flowed down her cheeks as she went to her knees and began to scrub the floor rigorously. Then she saw something sparkled like gold near a stone tile that had a piece chipped off. She crawled towards it and carefully laid the object on the palm of her hand. It was a star-shaped gold pin.


	13. The Invitation

Princess Pirika skipped happily out of the classroom with her new group of friends. She never thought she would be enjoying the Royal Patch Academy this much. Seven years ago, the only companion she had was her goofy older brother who had to quit school. Her other royal blood classmates were nicer to her than what Horo-Horo had initially described them to be. However, they had already formed their own cliques with allies from neighboring kingdoms and dukedoms so she was alone most of the time. She had envied them all these years and secretly wished that Kouri was in good terms with Kaminari so that she could be friends with someone who was closer to her home. However, the peace treaty between the four kingdoms always acted as an invisible wall between her and Prince Ren. Even if there were no peace treaty she won't probably be friends with the egotistic tyrant as what she had often called him in the past. Well, that was what she thought before the Tao heir came back from his trip.

The blue-haired princess took a sideway glance at her unexpected friend walking beside her. Prince Ren had changed since he returned from Kaminari. They said that his fiancée had a mishap and died and he couldn't accept it. It had affected him so much as to suddenly change his demeanor particularly toward her. Oftentimes, they would talk about Anna.

_She had the eyes of a falcon ready to claw its escaping prey from the ground._ _Her tongue had the sharpness of a steel blade that would pierce even the fiercest men in her kingdom._

These may not be the proper words to describe his fiancée but every time he spoke about her, there was both love and sadness in his voice.

_She was smart, strong, proud and beautiful yet lonely deep inside._

_Just like you, Ren._

She thought to herself. She wanted so much to bring back the sparkle of joy in his eyes.

"Are you once again hypnotized by my irresistible charms?" The Tao heir smirked at her when he caught her ogling at him.

She blushed furiously. Maybe some things would never change. "You're so full of yourself, Ren. Don't assume that every girl you meet is in love with you. I am definitely NOT!"

_Now that was a lie._

Her heart was pounding so loud that she feared the Kaminari prince might finally notice.

"That's very ungentlemanly of you, Ren... for you to think Princess Pirika is actually interested in you," there was spite in Lyserg's voice.

The prince's green-haired friend who was emanating a gloomy aura along with his cousin, Jeanne strolled with them at a close distance. The neglected Chocolove followed the four from behind.

"Lady Jeanne, aren't you excited about the upcoming Friendship ball? I heard that the menu is ten times more delicious than what the Academy is serving us everyday," Chocolove tried to ease the tension between his two friends.

The silver-haired beauty nodded. "I'm having qualms about the security though… A lot of disputing kingdoms will be present in the event."

"Oh don't worry Jeanne. Father would deploy special units around the venue," Lyserg assured his cousin. The Royal Police was tapped by the academy to enforce security measures during the Friendship Ball.

"I bet Duke Liam had them all in place by now. By the way, are you bringing your fiancé to the ball, Lady Jeanne?" Chocolove inquired. He was hoping she would not.

"That's ex-fiancé for you," Lyserg gruffly replied. He had not yet forgiven that conceited Asakura royal blood for calling him girly.

Chocolove wore a dreamy expression. "So that means I can ask Lady Jeanne to be my date…"

"Sorry but that won't be possible. I'll be Jeanne's chaperone," Lyserg put on a poker face. His father instructed him to accompany his cousin during the ball. Not that he didn't want to be seen with the most gorgeous girl in the academy who happened to be a relative, he just had another one in mind to be his date. His cousin did not look so excited either.

"Aww… too bad. Maybe Princess Pirika would…" Chocolove began.

"Pirika's coming to the ball with me," Prince Ren cut him before he could finish.

"I am?" the Kouri princess looked surprised.

The Tao heir smiled sweetly at her.

Perhaps she couldn't resist his charms after all. Her father would be out of town during the night of the ball so he won't be coming over wearing an obvious disguise to spy on her among the shadows - a habit she wanted him so much to break. She hadn't heard any news from her father that her older brother would also be coming. Her big brother had a lot of responsibilities as king and couldn't spare some time to attend social gatherings. Moreover, he would not have the courage to go back to the academy after what happened seven years ago. His presence would be a problem.

"Yes, I am!" the princess could not hide her delight.

* * *

**In the Kasai palace dining hall...**

_Anna sure is grumpy today._

Prince Yoh glanced at his personal maid who was standing with the rest of the palace servants at the side as they waited for the royal family to finish eating dinner.

The blond girl had been like that after she left his twin brother's room and caught him spying on them by the door. He quickly apologized and promised that he won't do it again though he was ready to barge into the room when Hao was about to kiss her. His musings of Anna came to a painful halt when Tamao pinched him on the arm.

"Yoh, you weren't paying any attention!"

"I'm sorry…" he rubbed the red mark to soothe it. "What was that you're saying?" He remembered vaguely about Horo-Horo's sister giving his fiancée a letter.

"Tsk tsk. You should focus your eyes on your future wife and not on someone else, twin brother." Prince Hao smirked. "Your behavior is suggestive of adultery. What a bad example for your subjects."

"Thanks for your concern brother-in-law but I'm confident my husband-to-be has his eyes only on me." Tamao flashed a firm look on the person beside her.

Prince Hao mumbled a word that sounded like 'ignorant' while he chewed a piece of steak.

"As I was saying, Pirika handed me an invitation from the Royal Patch Academy. They will be conducting a Friendship Ball in a week's time and had asked Kasai to send four representatives to attend the gathering of monarchies from around the world."

"Sounds interesting My Dear… The children should go.. " Queen Keiko placed her hand over her husband's.

King Mikihisa thought about replenishing the gold and silver coins in the treasury first before they could make any unnecessary expenses. Lately, business with Kouri had been doing great and this would be a good opportunity to form an alliance with foreign kingdoms.

"Yes, they will go. Let's make preparations for it."

"Thank you Uncle Mikihisa!" Tamao exclaimed. It was her first time to attend a prestigious ball in a foreign land. She had already contacted the royal seamstress to sew the perfect dress for her even if the king had not yet approved of their attendance.

"I expect you to act regally in that event." The king said sternly. "I don't want you tarnishing the Asakura name especially you, Yoh."

The Kasai heir lowered his gaze. He could clearly see the family heirloom pinned on his chest. The small star-shaped brooch had been passed down to the heirs of the kingdom for generations. Whoever wore it must live up to the Asakura name. He was up to the challenge but the king did not seem convinced.

"Yes Father…" he answered meekly.

"King Miki, if I may... " the other Kasai prince raised a finger.

"Please continue Hao…"

"The invitation said that we can send four representatives to the ball. Currently, there are only three of us going. Tamao would naturally be Yoh's escort while I, on the other hand, will go alone. I would like to have someone accompany me, too."

"I'm sure your fiancée will gladly join you when you meet her there," Queen Keiko smiled unaware of the news.

"My Queen," the king cleared his throat. "The arranged marriage had been called off. Sorry I forgot to tell you."

"Oh… but Jeanne's such a sweet girl.. Who would you be taking then?" the queen asked her son.

"If it is not too much to ask… I wish to take my tutor, Anna to the ball."

Tamao dropped her silver utensils on the plate. Prince Yoh choked on his red wine. The palace maid, Kanna stopped herself from strangling the girl next to her while the rest of the servants eyed their blond colleague who was staring in disbelief at the long-haired prince.

_What are you thinking, you pervert?!_

Anna wanted to melt away from the unsolicited attention that she was getting.

"But she's not a princess! How can she represent the kingdom?" Tamao shot up from her seat in anger.

"Oh look who's talking. Your blood is not as thick as ours." Prince Hao sneered.

"Don't stand up if everybody's not yet done with his meal," Old Queen Kino warned her.

The pink-haired girl grudgingly sat back down.

"Hao, that's not a nice way to talk to your relative," the former Kasai queen berated her grandson.

"Distant relative is the correct term, oldie," The prince casually replied.

"Hao, that's not the proper way to address your grandmother," King Mikihisa tried to control his temper.

"Your Highness, please be open-minded about it. Yes, Anna is a commoner but do royal bloods have the sole right to represent the kingdom?" The other Kasai prince eyed his father whose face was hidden behind the bird mask. He couldn't remember what those scars looked like but he could clearly recall how he had inflicted them on him.

"You have once told me that the true representatives of this kingdom are the people of Kasai. By sending a commoner to the ball, we are delivering this important message to the rest of the world. Here in Kasai, we are treating everyone equally."

_Wow, brother is really good._

Prince Yoh admired his twin from across the table.

"Uncle Mikihisa, " Tamao wouldn't lose to her arrogant future brother-in-law, "that reasoning is only right if the commoner is of exemplary character, someone fit to represent the kingdom. In Anna's case, she's not worthy."

"Not all royal bloods are of exemplary character, too, Tamao. Perhaps you should give her the benefit of the doubt," Old Queen Kino responded to the blond girl's defense.

"I agree with grandma and brother," Prince Yoh beamed at his personal maid who was emitting a dark aura from the palace servants' line up. "Anna maybe a commoner but she surely embodies a good citizen of Kasai."

_All this talk just to go to a party._ King Mikihisa sighed.

"Very well, Anna will go to the ball. That's my final decision."

* * *

**After the Kasai royal family dinner...**

"Anna, wait up!" Prince Yoh rushed to the blond girl who was on her way to the servants' quarters.

"Don't come near, Yoh. I am in a bad position right now. The other palace maids are not happy about my special treatment." Anna did not even turn around to look at him.

"I'm sorry but I only did that to help you…" the prince paced after her.

"I know."

"You do?" They stopped at the first step of the staircase leading down to the sleeping quarters.

"I was angry at first but after thinking about it, coming to the ball is really beneficial for me. If representatives from all kingdoms will be attending, then there is a high possibility that Ren will be there. After all, he is a student of the Royal Patch Academy. I'll find him and ask him to bring me home."

"Yes… That is my idea, too. I'm sorry I can't bring you back myself."

"Don't be apologetic on your failure to fulfill your promise to me. I'll let it pass."

_That did not sound reassuring._ Prince Yoh thought.

"You should worry more about your twin brother. Don't let him overshadow you."

Anna pressed her finger on the star-shaped gold pin on his chest. "Have you forgotten what this stands for?"

Yoh shook his head and repeated his tutor's previous lecture. "The star symbolizes the king of Kasai. The grooves that form a six-pointed tree at the center of the star represent the kingdom. It is a reminder to the king that Kasai should always be at the center of his heart."

"And why was this given to you?"

"Because I am the rightful heir to the throne."

"Good. Now, don't let anyone especially your brother steal the kingship from you, Yoh. He might not love the kingdom as much as you do."

"My brother is not like that."

"How can you be sure? You have witnessed our confrontation yourself! I do not trust him."

"He is still my brother, Anna… He grew apart from the family that's why he's a little bit… unpleasant."

"You're so naïve, Yoh. There's no point in arguing with you. I'm going to sleep," She scurried downstairs in her frustration.

* * *

The stars shone brightly that night. There was a multitude of them sparkling like shards of a broken mirror. Prince Hao marveled at the lovely sight. Stargazing at the rooftop was his usual past time in Mont St. Michel. He brought the hobby back home but the palace rooftop was so high and steep that he gladly settled himself on the balcony of his elegant room. He was enjoying his quiet time when a soft knock came from the other side of the door.

"Go away! I'm trying to rest," he called out.

"Your Highness, it's me…"

Prince Hao opened the door upon recognizing who it was.

The blue-haired woman invited herself into the prince's chamber. Prince Hao roamed the corridor with his eyes. The two royal guards stationed at the far end of the hall seemed to be both snoozing on the job. It was safe to accept unwelcomed visitors.

The prince gently closed the door from behind him. Then furrowed his brows at the intruder of his privacy.

"My dear Kanna, what brings you here?" he tried to mask his irritation.

"Why did you choose her over me?" Bitter tears started to roll down her cheeks.

"What are you talking about Kanna?"

"I did everything for you. I had risked my life for you but you neglected my feelings for that bitch!"

_Ahhh... I see now..._

"Don't be carried away. I'm doing this because it's needed. That Anna and my brother, they seem to be hiding a secret."

Kanna wiped away her tears. "A secret?"

"Yes, I'm dubious about Anna's character. I want to find out more that's why I'm keeping her within an arm's reach. Perhaps you could help me again?"

"Yes, my loyalties have and will always lie with you, the true king of Kasai. I'll assist you my beloved Prince Hao in any way I can…"

"Thank you Kanna… Maybe you can retrieve a clue among Anna's belongings on who she really is while we are away. If you find something," Hao brushed his lips on Kanna's ear, "I'll give you an unforgettable reward…"

Kanna's cheeks turned pink. "I will do my best, Your Majesty." Then she slowly opened the door and left feeling quite relieved.

Hao waved at her then pushed the door close. "Women… what a pain they are."


	14. The Dam Builder's Daughter

King Horokeu slid the doors open and stepped into the balcony of his bedroom. He was greeted by the picturesque landscape of Fubuki, the central town and seat of power in the kingdom of Kouri. Although he woke up to the same scenery every day, he had never really gotten tired of it.

Fubuki was not as grandiose as Kasai's Koichi. In fact, Kouri as a whole paled in comparison with the other three kingdoms in terms of land area, population size and architectural aesthetics. Residing on the easternmost tip of the land, this little kingdom only had a central seaport town and four other small farming villages with butterbur as their major crop. Military resources were scarce but the people did not consider this as a major drawback because they were a peace-loving nation after all. The citizens were highly confident in their undermanned but well-trained army. Besides, the Asakura clan of Kasai had also taken an oath that they would be extending their military support to them in times of conflict. Although it did not look like it, Kouri was highly capable of paying for extra armament and manpower if the situation deemed it necessary.

Life in Kouri was quiet and simple and King Horokeu appreciated his role there more than the very first time the golden crown had been forcibly laid on his head. The former ruler, Lycan Usui had left home after bestowing his administrative rights to him. He had never visited his turf ever since so his son got the shock of his life after seeing a bulky bearded man offering him breakfast in bed the moment he woke up.

"You could have telegrammed me first so that I will know you would be coming," the young ruler of Kouri called out from the balcony. His long absent father set down the utensils and plates from the breakfast tray onto the small coffee table.

"Sorry, I was too excited to see my son after - ", Lycan began to count with his fingers.

"Seven years. Would you cut off that ugly beard? It's giving me the creeps!"

"Oh, was it that long?"

King Horokeu was not sure if his father was asking about the length of his absence or his beard. He would have replied a 'yes' either way.

"It's a good thing Tona recognized you and let you go through my door."

"Actually, he did not. He tried to grapple me. Come let's have breakfast first."

His son entered the room and sat by the coffee table. "So how did you make yourself known?"

"Well, it was quite easy. I just showed him this," Lycan took out something from his pocket. It was his wife's snowflake-shaped locket containing their children's baby photos.

"You and Pirika were so cute here, Horo-horo."

The young king reddened with embarrassment. "Stop! I don't want to hear anything of that sort, old man!" He finished off his breakfast pancake in four big bites.

"What brought you here anyway?" he asked after gulping down his glass of milk. The former king must have something very important to tell. "The tunnels will be almost complete. I had to employ farmers to give extra hands on the digging. By the end of the month, we can start transporting-"

"My son," Lycan interrupted him. "I came here for personal reasons and not for business. I'm here to visit you that's all." He grinned widely at him.

King Horokeu replied with a raised eyebrow. He wasn't really convinced that his father would suddenly show up for nothing.

"Well… it's also because of this," his father fumbled for something from his coat.

"Aha! I was right. There is something else, isn't it?"

Lycan handed him an ornately decorated envelope bearing the dry seal of a feather.

King Horokeu looked surprised.

"It's an invitation to the friendship ball," his father explained.

The young monarch stared at the letter from the Royal Patch Academy.

He was only ten when his father had sent him off to a foreign land to get formal education. He didn't think it was necessary for him to attend an academic institution for royal bloods in order to learn how to grow butterbur and run the kingdom. He had strongly voiced this out to his father who seemed to have made up his mind already. If only his mother were there, she could have talked some sense into his father so that he would not have made him go. Alas, the queen left them when Pirika was barely a year old.

When his verbal protests went unheard, he resorted to locking himself up in his room three days before the royal ship set sail. His father had tirelessly pounded on his door with a threat to cut back his meals yet he was unfazed for he had already commissioned the help of his younger sister to sneak in provisions into his room while everybody slept. The former king was impatient but he proved to be a good strategist. On the night before his voyage, his father had secretly employed the help of the palace guards to climb soundlessly into the balcony of his room while he drooled in his slumber and transport his things to the royal ship docked at the sea port. He woke up the following morning only to find his entire wardrobe and personal belongings gone. His father was waiting outside his door with two options for him:

_You can stay here and wear your underpants forever or go to school and have your things back._

He had no other choice.

King Horokeu gazed at the dwarf-like plushie lying on top of his bedside cabinet.

_It's been a long time, Damuko..._

He could still clearly remember what had transpired there seven years ago...

* * *

_Flashback_

_It was his first day of school and he found himself standing side by side with a grouchy-looking man with a sharp nose and thin wide lips. Despite the old man's diminutive stature, he had an air of authority around him that would silence even the most stubborn student in an instant. About fifteen pairs of eyes stared back at them with extreme curiosity. Some were sizing him up from head to foot trying to figure out what made him so special as to merit the introduction of the academy's top official. Apparently, this was the first time in the school's history that an enrollee had been accompanied to his class by no other than the headmaster himself._

" _Everyone, this is Prince Horokeu Usui from the kingdom of Kouri."_

_Murmurs began to fill the room._

" _Kouri? That tiny piece of farmland?"_

" _I can't believe Master Goldva's favorite was from that LITTLE kingdom."_

" _I bet his father paid the academy with tons of butterbur!"_

_Horo-Horo tried to ignore his classmates' derisions but he was already balling his fists. If he started a fight now, he might be sent back home in an instant. Well, maybe that was not such a bad thing but his father would be very disappointed if he saw him knocking at the palace gates earlier than expected._

" _This is his first day here at the academy. Please treat him nicely. Can I hear a response?"_

" _Yes, Headmaster Goldva," the students chorused._

" _Good, you may proceed with your class, Master Silva," the head master nodded at the Patch instructor and left the room._

" _Prince Horokeu, kindly take that empty seat beside Ms. Kurobe."_

_He approached the empty wooden chair with caution. The girl to his right smiled at him but he ignored her completely. He hated it there. It was no fun sitting on a chair for two hours and listening to a serious-looking instructor rattle about senseless information. At that very moment, he could have been out into the butterbur fields playing hide-and-seek with his sister. He could have run to the sea port to play pirate king with the fishermen's children or he could have gone to Kasai to bother Yoh with his royal training. He was missing his old life already. When Master Silva announced lunch break, he felt like a prisoner finally being freed from a cold damp dungeon._

" _Hi! Do you want to join me for lunch?" his girl seatmate smiled at him for the second time. It was only then that he noticed how cute she was._

" _Okay," he quickly agreed for he did not have any idea where to eat._

_He followed her into an elegant dining hall with a dome shaped ceiling from which a crystal chandelier hanged. At the center was a long buffet table full of appetizing and freshly-prepared cuisine. The heirs of the rich and powerful monarchies of the world occupied the lines of linen-covered tables that were set for fine dining. For the first time in his life Horo-Horo actually felt like a true prince. They didn't have those lavish things at the Kouri palace. He excitedly filled his plate with all sorts of food he can find._

_The girl giggled at him as they settled on the dining table she picked._

" _You're going to enjoy it here," she said. "I'm Tamiko Kurobe by the way."_

" _Glad to meet you Princess Tamiko," he said with his mouth full. He was not an avid fan of good manners after all._

_The girl laughed heartily as if she had just witnessed a court jester showing off his antics. Horo-Horo stared at her in astonishment. Was it something he said or were there food bits on his face?_

" _I'm not a princess." she explained. "My father is just good at building dams and he had many kingdoms as clients. That's why he can afford to send me here. I'm sure you're far more affluent than me."_

_No, Kouri is just a kingdom of fishermen and farmers. He would have replied that to her but he was choking on a piece of steak._

_Tamiko handed him a glass of grape juice which he gratefully accepted._

" _Because my father is a dam builder, other students here started calling me Damuko. I guess you can use that little nickname on me but in return, I will also call you by some other name. 'Horokeu' sounds too old and mature."_

" _Horo-Horo is fine."_

" _Glad to meet you Horo-Horo."_

_Since that meeting, they were inseparable._


	15. Queen Yuki's Day

**Seven years ago...**

"Horo-Horo!" Damuko could not contain her joy as she approached her blue-haired friend at their favorite dining table. "Today is Queen Yuki's Day! There's an ongoing festivity in town with street performances and food stalls and game booths and I heard there will be a floating lantern display tonight. It's such a waste that we can't go."

"What is Queen Yuki's Day?" the Kouri prince apparently could not relate.

"You don't know?! You are not listening to Master Chrom's lecture are you?" his friend waved a finger at him. "Queen Yuki's Day is an annual commemoration of the former queen, Yuki's birthday. You see there was a large kingdom here ruled by Queen Yuki before she divided it among her royal advisers."

"Why would she ever do that?"

"Well, she had no heir and she indicated in her last will and testament that her kingdom be divided equally into four. A quarter of the land was given each to her trusted royal advisers namely Orona McDonell, Liam Diethel and Francois Mont St. Michel. The last piece of land where the palace stood was donated to the Royal Patch Academy."

"So our school building was a former palace? Wow! That queen must have come from a very rich family."

"Yes, she was affluent yet very humble. Because of her generosity, the dukedoms are celebrating the queen's birthday every year. Too bad we can't go outside to see it."

"Why not?"

"We have to secure an exit pass from the headmaster to go out of the academy but the only way he will allow us to leave is when we're accompanied by a family member. And even if Father were here, there's a one-to-a-million chance that the headmaster will give us his authorization since it is almost dark outside. Nobody is allowed to leave the school premises at night. Maybe we could have our chance next year..."

"Do you really want to go now?" Horo-Horo grinned at his friend.

"Yes!"

"Then let's go!"

Damuko stared back at him with utter disbelief. "Without the school's permission?"

"We'll only be out for a few hours. By the time the school announces lights off, we'll be right under our bed covers. "

"But how are we going to leave without being caught?"

The blue-haired boy thought for a while. An idea was starting to form in his prankster mind. "Follow me."

* * *

John Denbat leaned on the wall and daydreamed about playing the violin in a high-class party. He had often considered himself a natural-born musician but it was his parents' bidding that compelled him to enter the security forces. He was a royal guard for three years at the palace of the deceased Queen Yuki but since the disestablishment of the former kingdom, he had been employed by the Royal Patch Academy to serve under the school's private security. It was the same monotonous task and the same old building to protect.

He hated it all. He might have changed his opinion about being a security personnel if he was not asked to leave his previous post. Being a hallway sentinel at the now converted palace was far nobler (and warmer) than a lowly gatekeeper to the school's south exit. He began to whistle a tune out of boredom but stopped when he caught his partner eyeing him from head to foot as if assessing his ability to safeguard the future kings and queens of the world.

_Why was I ever stuck with this guy?_

John would often curse at the headmaster for making him work with a rigid and boring person such as Chris Venstar.

Chris was an imposing muscular man with the appearance of a military general. He was a former royal guard, too and was too dedicated at his job that he considered slackers such as John to be unworthy of the position.

"Will you stand up properly? Your lazy posture is hurting my eyes."

"Why? Nobody is looking anyway," John lit up a cigar which he had taken out of his pocket. The school banned smoking in its premises but he did not care. It's not like the headmaster's razor-sharp vision could see him through the thick trees near the south gate.

"You're a bad influence to the young lords and ladies of this school. Have you got no shame?"

"Those rich brats aren't going to see me. Not a single one of them had passed by this place to say hello. Those kids are too afraid to break school rules."

"Quiet!" Chris's annoyed expression suddenly changed to an alarmed look.

"What now?"

"I heard movements over there." He pointed at the thick clump of shrubs and trees near the stone path leading to the school's kitchen door.

The color quickly drained from John's face. During his entire career as a guard, he had never experienced any conflict. His partner looked too damn serious right now. Someone or something was surely out there.

"Then go check it out," he shrugged at Chris as he tried to hide his fright under a mask of calmness.

"Yes, I will. Don't leave your spot. If someone comes running, prevent him from escaping through the gate, understood?" The bold Chris Venstar left him immediately.

John gulped. He was hoping that no deranged lunatic or a murderous criminal or even a hungry wild animal would ever come his way. He would faint the moment he saw one. Maybe he wasn't really fit to be a security personnel. He was now seriously considering a career change after this experience.

He was alone only for a minute when he heard a blood-curdling scream. It came from Chris' direction. There was no way he could deal with whatever it was on his own. Without looking back, he hurriedly pulled down the lever to slightly raise the gate and scampered away into the darkness.

Two short giggling figures went out into the open after he left.

* * *

"That was a great idea Horo-Horo!" Damuko let out a boisterous laughter when they were already far away from school.

"Yes, that was my original scare-the-gatekeepers-off tactic. I used to do that to our very own palace guards at home," the blue-haired prankster said proudly. "Thanks for making me use your doll and paint as props. You may not want her back though."

He had borrowed Damuko's porcelain walking doll which was a gift from her father when she was little. The poor doll which was tall enough to be mistaken for a toddler had been stripped off its fancy dress and strategically painted with patches of red on its white limbs and face. Horo-Horo removed the doll's pigtails, spread out its long black hair and let the red paint trickle down from both its blue glassy eyes. He then hanged it with a rope around its neck on a tree branch where the unlucky school guard saw it swinging.

"Oh, that's okay. I already outgrew it." Damuko assured her friend. She would give up everything just to witness the celebration at the town square.

They walked as fast as their feet could carry them until they heard distant music from drums and accordions being played. At last, they reached the central town and the most memorable night of their lives had just begun.

Horo-Horo marveled at the colorful festivities before him. There were celebrations like this in Kouri but not as extravagant as this. Street performers where simultaneously doing shows on every open space they could find. The aroma of grilled meat and freshly baked sweets tempted him into walking towards the food stalls and experiencing their gastronomic delights. He had already started devouring a stick of lamb barbecue when Damuko pulled him away.

"Aww… Damuko, let me eat first," Horo-Horo complained.

"You already had dinner in school. You're hungry again?" she rolled her eyes as she dragged him.

"I'm a growing kid, you know. Do you want to play another game? You already had Kororo." He was referring to the small dwarf-like plushie that he had won for her in the dart booth.

"No, I'm fine with Kororo. Thanks for giving it to me. But the floating lantern display is about to start. We need to find a good spot."

"Damuko, wait up!" Horo-Horo grabbed his friend's arm to stop her.

They paused in front of the statue of a regal woman with her slender arms wide open as if beckoning them to come forward and embrace her. On her neck hanged a familiar-looking snowflake-shaped pendant.

_Mother…_

Horo-Horo felt a small lump on his throat. He suddenly remembered his mother who left them when they were very young. He could still clearly recall what she looked like based on her portraits back at home.

_Your mother needed to do something very important._

Their father explained to them but he did not emphasize that she wasn't coming back.

"This is Queen Yuki. Beautiful isn't she?" Damuko admired the stone lady.

Horo-Horo suddenly felt like crying. The memory of being abandoned by his mother came rushing back to him. The former queen's statue had such an effect that he began to walk away before the tears start rolling down his cheeks.

"Let's go to your floating lantern NOW."

Damuko noticed her friend's sudden change in mood. "Hey Horo-Horo, is there something wrong?" she called out to him but he ignored her. They were just ogling at the former queen's statue when her friend started to act weirdly. She wanted to hold his hand to tell him everything's going to be okay but a greasy arm grabbed her from behind.

"Help me Horo-Horo!"

* * *

Luchist Lasso had served in the disestablished kingdom's military as the most promising general of his time. He was a renowned strategist who boasted a one hundred percent success rate in all his crime-busting missions which earned him admiration even from foreign kingdoms. When the queen died and the military forces had been dissolved, he was appointed by Duke Liam Diethel, the founder of the Royal Police as a squad leader of the security unit that watched over the central town.

That night, the town was far from being peaceful. There was a festival in the name of the former queen and the merrymaking citizens had organized themselves around her giant statue at the square. Luchist normally hated noisy crowds but right now, he was grateful for their presence. The continued revelry served as an indication that the Royal Police had been in good control of the situation. Nobody was curious enough to wonder why the number of police officers in the area had suddenly multiplied.

_That's right. Enjoy the festivities and let us do our job._ Luchist said to no one.

Just a few minutes ago they were chasing after a death row convict who had escaped from prison. The unstable man who was charged with arson and multiple counts of homicide possessed a gun which he took from the jail guard he had recently killed. Knowing that the police would not want to stir mass hysteria at such time, the convict had led them into the party scene and blended with the common folks.

Luchist's mission was to retrieve the criminal as discretely as possible so as not to cause panic during a celebratory occasion. He carefully surveyed the crowd with his eyes, examining each ragged and dirty person he could find among the people. But it was a difficult task of finding a needle in a haystack. The commencement of the floating lantern exhibit had citizens flocking the square every minute.

_Come on. Show yourself. We got you surrounded._

Luchist wanted to loudly threaten the convict in hiding but he knew too well he couldn't do that in that occasion. He roamed his eyes to check if a police unit had been deployed in every possible exit at the town square. The security forces had intermingled with the citizens, eating barbecues, watching street performers, talking to women. This was to avoid suspicions from the townsfolk that something was wrong.

_You can't escape us. You can't escape ME._

Just when Luchist was getting impatient, a girl screamed nearby.


	16. The Pauper Prince

**Seven years ago...**

It was total chaos in an instant.

People began running from all directions. Women shrieked. Children cried. Some sellers grabbed as much merchandise as they could carry before they abandoned their stalls. The surrounding security forces desperately tried to shepherd the crowd away from the hostage taking area.

"Damuko!" Horo-Horo was horrified to find his friend held at gunpoint by a grubby man.

"Don't come closer or I'll shoot this girl dead!" threatened the death row inmate. A group of police men had now rushed to the scene.

The tallest of the police officers who seemed to be the leader of the security unit waved at the others to step back. He then addressed the anxious blue-haired lad who apparently was an acquaintance of the hostage victim.

"Out of the way, boy. Let me handle this." He quickly recognized the Royal Patch Academy uniform that the boy and the girl victim were wearing.

_Why on earth are these royal bloods out here?_

"Please drop your weapon. We can talk about this." Luchist turned his attention to the escaped convict. "What do you want? Maybe I can help you." He spoke in his well-practiced negotiating tone yet he had never lowered his gun the whole time.

The hostage taker laughed. "Who are you fooling officer? You would just send me back to that stinking jail!"

_Yeah, you're right. Who am I kidding?_

Luchist thought but continued on with his flowery talk. "My friend, I know you are not a bad person. I promise you, I would appeal to the jury to lower your sentence if you would just let the poor girl go."

"Don't toy with me!" The death row inmate poked Damuko's head lightly with the gun. "I shouldn't have been sent to prison in the first place! Those god damned relatives of mine deserved to die! They made me and my little brother suffer too much. Where is justice in this world, officer? Tell me!"

"There is justice, my friend, but you took it with your own hands. Let me help you truly obtain it." Luchist tried to focus on his target.

_If I aim for the forehead, I could bring him down instantly. He is meant to die anyway._

Before he could pull the trigger, the blue-haired boy suddenly picked up a rock.

"Don't!" he barked at him but it was too late. Horo-Horo had already hurled the stone at the hostage taker. It hit the death row inmate at the forehead making him yelp in pain and freeing Damuko in the process.

"Damuko run!" Horo-Horo shouted at his friend. The young girl scampered away as fast as her legs could carry her.

The escapee was quick to recover though. Blood from the open wound trickled down the convict's face making him look even more like a terrifying mad man.

"You pesky little brat!" He fired his gun at the boy.

Luchist aimed at the already bleeding wound and fired back almost at the same time.

Two bodies dropped to the ground after a split second.

* * *

The passing of Tamiko Kurobe was unfortunate but the true cause of her death was only known to the Royal Police, the school officials, her father, and her friend who was at the scene with her. The Royal Patch Academy did everything to contain the news of the incident within its four walls. The headmaster had literally dropped down to his knees to beg for forgiveness from Tamiko's father. He also pleaded for his silence. If word comes out about the incident, it would ruin the school's reputation. Mr. Kurobe reluctantly agreed in exchange for justice, something the Royal Police could only offer.

In order to prevent controversies and rumors from spreading around the school, the headmaster announced to the student body that Tamiko Kurobe had died of a heart attack during the stillness of the night. The young royal bloods were shocked. They did not expect her to be suffering from any illness. Damuko seemed to be always energetic despite being out of place in the academy. They tried asking her only friend, Prince Horokeu Usui if he knew about her disease but the boy avoided them. He still looked shaken and preferred to be alone. He stayed out of people's way and stopped attending classes ever since Damuko's body was transported to her home town.

The Kouri prince thought that his frequent absence from class had finally prompted the headmaster to call him to his office one day. When he entered the dreaded room, the first person he saw was an aristocratic man with a characteristic moustache standing gravely next to the headmaster's desk.

"Ah Prince Horokeu, this is Mr. Shinji Kurobe," the head master introduced them.

Horo-Horo's heart raced. He was not yet ready to face Damuko's father after what happened.

Mr. Kurobe must have noticed the young boy's distress so he let out a warm smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Prince Horo-Horo. My daughter told me a lot about you in her recent letters." He took something out of his coat pocket. "I was planning to put this away to our storage room along with her other things but I thought you might want to keep it."

The prince's eyes glazed upon receiving the plushie called Kororo. It smiled happily at him just like Damuko used to do.

"They found it in her uniform's pocket when they were cleaning her body. I don't remember giving it to her so it must have come from you. Thank you for being a good friend to my Tamiko," Mr. Kurobe bowed down.

Horo-Horo could not contain his guilt anymore. If there's one person to whom he owed an apology, it was to this man in front of him. He dropped to his knees and broke into tears. "I'm sorry Mr. Kurobe. It was all my fault. I shouldn't have made her go to the celebration. I shouldn't have angered the hostage taker."

"My dear prince," Damuko's father gently pulled him up as he sniveled without care. "I accept your apology. My daughter really wanted to witness Queen Yuki's Day ever since we began celebrating it but I was too busy with my work to accompany her. She must have enjoyed the event and for that I am grateful that you took her out. As for the hostage taking, nobody wanted that to happen. You were just at the wrong place at the wrong time." He patted the young boy's shoulder. "It was nice meeting you, Prince Horo-Horo. I must leave now. Please live a long and happy life."

Mr. Kurobe nodded farewell at the headmaster and left the room.

Horo-Horo was still sniffing uncontrollably.

"Come, my prince." The head master motioned him to approach his table.

He then gave him a handkerchief which the prince used to blow his nose.

"You can keep it, Prince Horokeu," he told him when the boy handed it back very wet and sticky.

"I have telegrammed your father regarding the incident and have received his reply just now." The headmaster handed him a piece of paper from his desk drawer. "He deemed it best that you go home for a vacation just to clear your mind off things for a while. Your ship will be arriving tomorrow morning."

* * *

Horo-Horo reluctantly entered the throne room of the Kouri palace. The five-day sea voyage was long and tiring but his father instructed him to meet him there as soon as he arrived. There was no one in the throne room except for the bulky monarch who waited for him by the window. The king of Kouri looked grim the entire time.

"I'm home," the prince called out to his father. The king turned to face him with his eyebrows almost meeting in the middle.

"For just barely a year, you had broken the academy's rules, caused two security school personnel to lose their jobs, interfered with the royal police operations and got your friend killed in the process. My son, I had expected a lot from you," King Lycan spoke these words dangerously calm.

Horo-Horo wanted to melt into nothingness. The last thing that he wanted to do was to disappoint his father.

"I'm sorry… " That was all he could say. He tried to hold back the tears. He did not want to cry in front of the king of Kouri.

King Lycan's facial expression slightly softened after seeing his son's eyes welling up with tears. If Yukina were there, she would have reprimanded him for scolding their traumatized son.

"I'm relieved that you were not killed much less hurt during the whole ordeal. I will be forever grateful to your friend. I had lost my wife. I can't imagine my grief if I were to lose my son. You may go and rest in your room. I only asked the head master to give you a month-long break. Make use of the time to reflect and forget about what happened."

"Yes Father…"

* * *

King Lycan strolled outside to breathe some fresh air hoping that his anger would dissipate. He had wanted to scold Horo-Horo badly but he couldn't do it. How could he? His usually over energetic son seemed broken in spirit. He was not answering back like he used to and that's what made the king of Kouri even more worried.

_How can I bring him back to his normal self?_

He was passing by a tall apple tree when a newly hatched birdie suddenly fell down from its nest. It lay dead on the ground, its body smashed by the impact. The king felt an unusual wave of coldness.

_A bad premonition_.

Intuitively, he ran towards the balcony of the prince's room. He was relieved to find his son sitting on the balustrade. Yet there was something uncharacteristic in the way he stared into the endless horizon. The death of his dear friend must have made a deep impact on him. Out of the blue, Horo-Horo leaned forward and dove headfirst into the ground.

King Lycan frantically dashed and spread out his arms to catch his son with all his might. He successfully caught him but his shaking knees eventually gave way. They both tumbled down on the grassy ground.

"What in Great Spirit's name are you doing?" he bellowed at his son.

"Damuko died because of me… I don't want to go back there." Horo-Horo started to bawl.

"Then why didn't you say so? If you don't want to go back then don't!" He said in exasperation. "But on one condition," King Lycan grabbed his golden crown and plopped it on his son's head. "…from this moment on you will be king of Kouri. If you try to kill yourself again, you are leaving the people of this kingdom with no leader. Do not betray the people's trust by abandoning your post."

Horo-Horo stared at his father in astonishment. He was not able to speak anything out of shock.

"Do not let your friend's death go in vain. She sacrificed her life so that you may live and what did you do in return? You go on performing this daredevil stunt to kill yourself. Pathetic!"

The young boy lowered his head in shame.

King Lycan tried to breathe normally to control his swelling anger. "I'm appointing one of my trusted soldiers to be your personal bodyguard. He will keep an eye on you in case you do something crazy again. I will telegram the Royal Patch Academy tomorrow to inform them that you won't be coming back and that your sister will take your place in the next school term instead. I will also ask them to ship back the rest of your things here."

Everything had happened so fast. He was suddenly made king, he was allowed to stop schooling and now his little sister will be studying at the academy. "Wait, why are you sending Pirika over?" the prince had finally found his voice.

The king let out an audible sigh, "It's what your mother had wished for before she died."

Horo-Horo was saddened. So their mother wasn't coming back after all. It's not like he had expected her to return. When he saw Queen Yuki's statue, it had already crossed his mind that his mother was probably dead.

"Father, I saw a statue that looked like Mother at the festival."

"Of course, they would make her one. The whole celebration was in her name after all. Yukina, your mother, was lovingly called Queen Yuki by her people."

So that's why she looked so familiar. Horo-Horo tried to digest every single word he had heard.

King Lycan sat on the grass next to his son. This was a long tragic story which he intended to tell to his children only when they were much older.

"I met your mother at the Royal Patch Academy's friendship ball fifteen years ago. She was such a beautiful and refined lady from a powerful and rich kingdom while I was a lowly hairy prince from a struggling monarchy. Nevertheless, our difference in status did not stop us from falling in love."

"I wooed her every time I had the chance to visit her kingdom for business reasons which was rather frequent because I served as an emissary for Kouri to market our kingdom's butterbur produce. Eventually I asked her father for her hand in marriage but he vehemently disapproved. He couldn't let his daughter marry a pauper prince. Moreover, she was already betrothed to the son of the king's royal adviser. So one night, we eloped." King Lycan smiled as he remembered how he had hidden his wife-to-be in an empty wooden box they used to transport butterbur leaves.

"We were married here in Kouri and then you were born and Pirika came two years later. One day, your mother received a telegram from your grandfather pleading her to come home. The king was dying from old age and Yukina, being the only child was the next heir to the throne. If she wouldn't take his place as soon as possible, their ambitious relatives would wriggle their way into the seat of power. The king wanted to prevent them from exploiting the kingdom to their heart's content."

"That's why she chose to leave us," Horo-Horo whispered sadly.

"Your mother made a difficult decision but she promised that she would come back. For several years, we waited for her return but only a telegram came. It was from Liam Diethel, your mother's ex-fiance. He informed me of Yukina's deteriorating health. I sailed as fast as I could to see her but when I came, she was already dying. She said she was sorry a couple of times, sorry that she couldn't be able to come home like she had promised. She was really planning to go back to Kouri. In fact, she already gave away the whole kingdom to her advisers so that she won't have anything to mind other than her family. It was too late though. She already succumbed to her illness and died on the day of her supposed-to-be departure to Kouri. The night before she passed away, she made me promise not to tell you the reason she had left until you were much older, that she chose her kingdom over her children. She also requested to send you to the Royal Patch Academy so you could have a chance to receive good education for free and to see the world."

"You could have told us everything. We could have understood her situation."

"Could you? You were too young to understand everything. Being king is a tough job. When people look up to you as their leader, there are sacrifices you have to make, sacrifices such as personal happiness. I am not scaring you my son. I am just telling the truth. From this day on, you are no longer deciding for yourself. You are deciding for the whole kingdom. Are you up for the job, King Horo-Horo?"

The young boy nodded, "I prefer to be called King Horokeu."

"Good. That's my boy." Lycan rested his arm around his son's shoulders.

"What will you be doing now father?" the newly-appointed child king asked him curiously.

"Oh, I'll still be working in the background. There is something I still must do. I'll tell you about the good news later."

"Big brother!" a young girl's voice called out from Horo-Horo's room. "Your door is open so I came in."

Pirika's small face looked down at the pair from the balcony. "What are you two doing down there?"

"My little princess," Lycan's voice rose one note higher. "Pack up your things. In a few weeks' time, we will be sailing off to a beautiful palace in a foreign land."

"Really?" the girl's eyes shone with excitement. "Will there be other prince and princesses, too? I'm sick of seeing big brother's ugly face."

"Yes, my sweet little butterbur. There's no ugly big brother there."


	17. The Child King

"Well, what response will we send to the academy?" The former king of Kouri, Lycan Usui asked his son.

He was answered with a deafening silence.

"You're giving too much thought about it, Horo-Horo." He waved his hairy hand near his son's face who had been staring into nothingness for a few minutes already. "It's just a simple 'yes' or 'no'."

"I just remembered something." said the young monarch.

_No ugly big brother huh?_

"By the way, Father, does Pirika already know about our mother?"

"No, I did not tell her yet but I'll explain it to her when the right time comes. It's just a pity that we weren't exactly calm when I told you the truth seven years ago. I'm sorry about that…"

Both father and son felt awkward. They hadn't talked about that incident ever since it happened not because they wanted to forget about it. There were simply other more important things that needed their attention. He was an inexperienced child king so he had to learn how to rule on the job. There was no room to reminisce the past while he was undergoing a condensed royal training with his father. Horo Horo struggled during the first few years of his reign. It was hard to converse with adults and impose authority especially to the royal army. He knew he was being ridiculed behind his back. Some thought of him as a puppet king whose strings Lycan were still pulling. There was some truth to that to be honest. Yet his father was firm about the decision to crown him early. As a final decree from the older Usui, employees of the Kouri palace who would defy the new king would be fired from their position and sent over to the mines to work. Whether it was out of fear or respect for the former ruler, nobody dared to go against the child king from then on.

So… are you coming to the friendship ball?" Lycan tried to ask his son one more time. Hopefully, he would get a straight answer.

"No," King Horokeu folded his arms.

"Why not? I'm sure Headmaster Goldva had forgotten everything. He is quite old now, senile if you ask me. The fired security personnel of the Royal Patch Academy most likely had gotten new jobs. Mr. Kurobe had put up a foundation to help orphans in memory of his daughter. I made some generous donations to his charity in your name, by the way. The Royal Police is now directly run by the Duke of Morphia. Well, I cannot count all the good things that had happened after that incident but the world is changing, Horo-Horo. It's time to move on. Forgive yourself for what happened to Damuko."

The young king stood up. "You are misunderstanding me, Father. I have already moved on. The reason why I'm not attending is because I AM the king here. I can't just leave Kouri behind for something so trivial such as a ball. Pirika can represent me in such gatherings."

Lycan gave out a smile. His son had really matured.

"But don't you call me Horo-Horo anymore," the blue-haired monarch narrowed his brows and pointed at his old man, "It's King Horokeu for you, beardoo weardoo!"

Lycan's smile faded. _Well maybe not that mature enough._

"That settles it then. I will send the telegram for you, Your Highness but first, let me just clear these up. Apparently, you are still as sloppy as when you were a baby." The former ruler muttered under his breath as he returned the dirty dining utensils into the breakfast tray.

His father left him to relax on the balcony. Because of their previous conversation, King Horokeu couldn't help but replay the scenes from seven years ago in his head. He had attempted to bury those memories but he couldn't forget them no matter how hard he tried.

_When the hostage taker fired his pistol, Damuko was almost near him. Horo-Horo had closed his eyes waiting for death to take him any moment. It was an act of cowardice but he was too young to care how he acted when he was about to die. He heard a second shot being fired by someone into the convict's direction. It probably came from the tall royal police man. When he felt that no bullet had actually hit him, he slowly opened his eyes to check on what had happened. To his horror, Damuko laid bleeding on the ground._

" _Why did you do it, Damuko?"_

_He asked her as he tearfully held her in his arms. He brushed the locks of black hair away from her pale face. She began coughing out blood._ _Life was fleeting fast from the girl but she managed to give him a weak smile. She wiped the tears off Horo-Horo's wet cheeks and whispered._

" _You are very important to me..."_

_Those were her last words._

King Horokeu stared up at the clear blue sky.

 _Hey Damuko, I'm sorry... I was such a coward that time. I owe you my life and I have tried my best to move on but it's really hard. I wonder how things are going to be if you're still alive?_ _Maybe we would still be both at the academy. Maybe by this time, we had already travelled to different places and had seen other colorful festivals. Maybe we could have graduated together. Maybe I could have asked your father for your hand then we could have gotten married and have lots of kids and rule Kouri as a family._

_Maybe we were really in love but we did not realize it because we were too young to understand what it was._

_I miss you so much Damuko._

Tear drops hit the balcony's marble railings. It was the first time he had cried in seven years.

* * *

**In some dank alley near the port of Morphia...**

" _Luchist, we all know that you are one fine officer, in fact, the best one in this field. You were actually who I was rooting for to be the next chief of the Royal Police after I retire. But the recent incident is just unfortunate, very unfortunate. Mr. Kurobe is an influential person and he is vigorously seeking justice for what had happened to his only child."_

" _I did what I could Chief but there was this young reckless royal blood who made a rushed careless decision all by himself. I didn't expect that Kurobe's kid would take the bullet for him."_

" _I know, I know Luchist but our boss, Duke Liam is also not too happy about how the police force performed tonight. The escape of a death row convict and the death of a highly-regarded dam builder's daughter, they were just too overwhelming."_

" _So I'm going to be sacked from the Royal Police? This is what this useless talk is all about?"_

" _Someone has to pay for what happened Luchist."_

" _And it had to be me? That escapee was NOT even in my charge, Chief. If I'm not mistaken death row inmates are directly under your supervision!"_

" _Look, I'm about to retire and I don't want my name, my legacy of peace tarnished before I go. I'm going to give you a fair share of my retirement fund if you take the bullet for me."_

" _I'm sorry, Chief," he loaded his pistol and pointed at his superior. "I'll be the giver and not the receiver of your bullet."_

That incident had started it all. It was strange that he began remembering it all now.

He passed through the dark alley noiselessly like a ghost. If not for his distinct goatee, he would have looked like the grim reaper with his long black cloak and piercing eyes. He was tall and lean yet he made light footsteps for he didn't want to leave any marks that would trace back to him. He met a client that night and a new job was in order. How ironic that his former work was to save lives but due to a sudden twist of fate, he's now being paid to take them.

He opened the door to an abandoned wine warehouse that served as his refuge ever since society had rejected him. He found his partner eating dinner while waiting for him there.

"Was it an old client?" the childlike assassin greeted him with enthusiasm.

"Yes," he grunted. He was quite hungry from the long walk.

Hearing his grumbling stomach, the little guy threw him a piece of bread which he easily caught with one hand. "What did he ask for? I missed burning houses." Arson was his partner's specialty.

_Your brother also had a thing for starting fires._

Luchist recalled the events of that fateful night. After he had fired at the escaped convict, he approached him to see if he was still breathing.

 _Please take care of my brother, Opacho._..

The escapee whispered to him before he breathed his last.

When he went rogue, the first thing he did was to find the dead convict's little sibling and now, he was stuck with this kid who had a penchant for committing crimes more sinister than those of his older brother.

"Well, maybe another client would call for arson but not this one." He grabbed a rickety chair and sat down. "Our client ordered for murder."

"Oh goodie! Who are we going to kill this time?"

"Another royal blood."

"You really hate royal bloods don't you?" his partner smirked.

"This is just my job. Nothing personal. Though a prince did ruin my life before." He took out his knife and started cleaning the blade with a wet towel.

"If you say so. By the way, I think we need new masks. Our old ones had blood spatters all over them from our recent kill."

"Ah, how timely. You can buy them tomorrow. Be sure to choose fancier ones." Luchist handed him a bag of coins. It was the advance payment for the new job.

"Why?" Opacho gave him a curious look.

"Because we're going to attend a masquerade ball."

**Author's Note:**

> This story first appeared in Fanfiction.net
> 
> In case you're wondering what happened to the rest of the chapters, I have decided to split the story into four volumes. I find it lighter to read and easier to manage that way. Here's the list of volumes for your reference:
> 
> Volume 1: The Four Kingdoms  
> Volume 2: The Heirs of the Four Kingdoms  
> Volume 3: The War of the Four Kingdoms  
> Volume 4: The Reign of the Four Kingdoms
> 
> Thanks for your understanding!


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